The monopoly energy utility is devouring diesel to run its emergency generation fleet -- which was intended only for dire emergencies or use during peak demand periods -- forking out R24.3bn in eight months.

Eskom has only about R3.6-billion left of its diesel budget for the 2023/2024 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2024. Considering the power utility has blown, on average, R3-billion a month on diesel this year, it seems Eskom is on track to deplete its diesel coffers before the year is up.

To stave off higher stages of rolling blackouts between 1 April and 28 November, the power utility spent R24.3-billion of its total diesel budget on its emergency diesel-powered generation fleet, Eskom confirmed to Daily Maverick this week.

In May, Daily Maverick reported Eskom had blown R12.4-billion on diesel in just four months. To put this into perspective, it took eight months for Eskom to spend R12-billion on diesel last year. With R24.3-billion blown as of 28 November, this means its diesel expenditure has more than doubled for the same period this year.

In the past few years, Eskom has been forced to rely increasingly on its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) because of a rising number of breakdowns within its ageing coal-fired power fleet. This year is no different, and it seems Eskom is well on track for another year of overspending on diesel to run its OCGTs....