Eskom April data 🔋🔌💡

Note: the sqlite databases that all the metabase queries are based on are now available for direct download at unofficialeskom.com/dashboards/#.... I still have a TODO to create a data dictionary and explain the columns etc, but it's pretty straight forward.

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Archived from May 2024 — analysis written ahead of the South African general elections on 29 May 2024.

There have been a lot of articles and press releases in the last few days about Eskom's diesel use and the upcoming elections.

One one side there is the DA, ex CEO De Ruyter, and some others claiming broadly that

• The situation at Eskom is as bad as ever
• Our record-setting 50 days without loadshedding is due to excessive diesel use
• After the elections, we'll have used up the diesel budget and things will go back to being bad
• This is due to political pressure that the ANC puts on Eskom

On the other is current Eskom leadership and the ANC who claim that

• Eskom has "turned the corner" and things are long-term improving
• Diesel is being burned responsibly and at a slower pace than before

I think the truth is somewhere in between, but I'm just some guy on the internet with an unhealthy obsession at trawling through data and news about Eskom, so take everything below with a healthy dose of skepticism, and only quote the bits that support whichever side of the debate you were already on.

Why can't Eskom generate enough power?​

It's controversial but probably because of state capture and general corruption in South Africa and especially at South Africa's State Owned Enterprises.

Because Eskom failed to build new generation capacity, it ran its aging power plants far harder than it should have. (Eskom benchmarks the performance of its coal-fired power stations against those of the members of Vereinigung der Großkesselbesitzer, a European-based technical association for electricity and heat generation industries.)

Here's a graph showing the utilization factor of Eskom's plants compared to VGB benchmarks.