NTCSA heavyweight Isabel Fick resigns

National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) has confirmed the resignation of Isabel Fick as head of the System Operator’s office.

Known as the woman who stopped total grid collapse in South Africa during the darkest days of load shedding, Fick is ultimately responsible for keeping the transmission network stable at 50Hz.

“This is an absolutely critical position for security of supply,” says Chris Yelland, managing director of EE Business Intelligence.

Professor Vally Padayachee agrees. He is former chair of the National Rationalised Specifications (NRS) Association management committee that updated the load shedding standard NRS-084.

Padayachee points out that it entails the management of the national grid with low tolerance for frequency variance. If supply and demand are out of balance, it could result in a total grid collapse or blackout, he says.

Pivotal position

Fick will bid Eskom farewell on 31 January, after 30 years with the company.

She told Moneyweb she will remain in the industry, but “will be looking at it from a different vantage point”. The NTCSA will immediately begin the recruitment process for her replacement.

Read: Monde Bala appointed CEO of NTCSA

The company told Moneyweb that given the critical nature of this role it aims “to fill the position as soon as possible”.

“In the interim, an acting appointment will be made while Isabel serves her notice period to ensure a smooth handover.”

It says several candidates are currently being considered for the acting role.

Fick says: “We made sure there is enough depth with several people with good skills and experience to take over from me.”

Industry praise

“The NTCSA extends its gratitude to Isabel for her 30 years of dedicated service to Eskom and the NTCSA, including the past five years as head of the System Operator. We wish her every success in the next chapter of her career.”

The company gives the assurance that it “has a strong pool of capable candidates who will continue the excellent work Isabel and her team have delivered, ensuring stability and continuity during this transition”.

Yelland says it is important for the successful candidate to be forward-looking, up to date with the latest technology, and in contact with peers worldwide to be in touch with best practice.

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Fick was appointed in her current position late in 2020, amid the Covid-19 lockdown, and thereafter had to face to most intense load shedding in the country’s history.

More recently, the System Operator is facing the challenge of managing a grid with limited capacity and an increasing portion of intermittent renewable energy.

The System Operator’s office has a staff of about 700, working in National Control, technical operations, telecommunications, grid code compliance, and system reliability services.

Padayachee says the leader of the System Operator’s team “must be top-notch, and I found her to be that”.

He says during the process to update the load shedding standard, Fick was very responsive, technically sound, professional and very humble.

“I feel sorry for Eskom for losing her,” he said.

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Brian Day, spokesperson for the South African Independent Power Producers Association (Saippa), agrees. “I have been very impressed with Isabel, and she and her team at the System Operator always inspired confidence even in the most trying of times.”

During the lockdown, it was crucial to keep the critical operators at National Control healthy, and strict measures had to be adhered to in order to minimise the risk of contamination.

Read: Load shedding in 2023 worse than the last eight years combined [Sep 2023]

During load shedding, decisions about the implementation of load shedding and the relevant stage were ultimately Fick’s responsibility. Padayachee says in 2023 the system was extremely vulnerable, with a high risk of grid collapse, but Fick and her team were able to avert it.

Legacy and looking ahead

Fick last year expressed her pride in her team and said system operators from Canada, Australia and Europe came to learn from them about managing a constrained system.

Deon Conradie, an Eskom veteran and tariff expert, says he always had the impression that Fick had her finger on the pulse.

“She knew the environment very well and was always decisive, which is crucial in that role.”

He says Fick succeeded in creating an environment where her team could do their critical job with confidence and she was always in control of the situation. This while she must have been under tremendous pressure from everybody.

Fick says with the stability of the system restored following load shedding, it is a good time to give over to a new leader. “NTCSA will become independent in the next four years, and he or she will be well positioned to lead the office into the future.”

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