South Africa Struggles With Power Shortages

South Africa’s Cabinet is to consider a number of possible interventions at its meeting in Pretoria next Wednesday as the extent of the country’s electricity supply constraints hit home this week.

With state company Eskom warning that industries, offices and homes could expect more power cuts for the rest of the week, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica moved to calm fears that the country’s electricity demand would outstrip supply for years to come, adding that there was “no need to panic” about the risk to future investments in the country.

After meeting with officials from her department, the Department of Public Enterprises and Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga in Pretoria on Wednesday, Sonjica said she would ask the National Energy Regulator to look into ways of improving Eskom’s maintenance regime and the overall reliability of the system.

South Africa has experienced a steady growth in the demand for electricity over the past decade on the back of robust economic performance - with GDP growth hitting 5.4% in 2006.

Earlier this month, Eskom spokesman Sipho Neke said the utility planned to invest R150-billion in its power supply infrastructure over the next five years, mostly on new power stations, including the return to service of three mothballed power stations.

Eskom finance director Bongani Nqwababa told Business Day on Thursday that the utility was looking to add an average of 2 000MW of electricity each year, doubling capacity to 80 000MW by 2025 - enough to keep pace with up to 6% economic growth a year.

South Africa’s power supply was severely constricted this week by maintenance aimed at helping the country through the winter months.

Eskom has appealed to all South Africans to use electricity sparingly, especially during the peak times of 7am to 10am and 6pm to 9pm, and to switch off lighting, appliances and equipment when not in use.

Source: SouthAfrica.info

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