Eskom troubles deeper than out-of-commission units, says expert

Ted Blom, an independent energy analyst, said there was more to Eskom’s current loadshedding than a couple of out-of-commission generation units at the Kusile power station. “The problems lie much deeper than that, starting at top management not being equipped to manage Eskom,” said Blom. “This lack of leadership, combined with corruption and incompetence on many levels changed the power giant into a spectacular failure.” The power supplier announced on Sunday that stage 2 loadshedding would be implemented for the week because some generation units have yet to return to service. It further said the system remains constrained and vulnerable and a further update on the power situation would be given tomorrow. Eskom said the return to service of two-generation units at the Kusile station has been delayed due to difficulties in restarting the units, which are now expected to return to service later. Ted Blom holds degrees in finance, law and mineral economics and consults widely to top 40 global hedge and private equity funds.