Property owners throughout South Africa should carefully consider their options amid warnings from Eskom that load-shedding is likely to return for five years between 2011 and 2016 when its two new power stations start generating electricity.
Kannan Lakmeeharan, managing director of Eskom’s operations and planning division says the country will consume 228 TWh (TerraWatt hours) this year, up from the 218 TWh last year. Demand for power is likely to grow by 2% a year so the implications for the State-owned utility are serious.
Lakmeerharan says that the difference between demand and supply would peak at about nine TerraWatts or the same amount of power generated by one unit at the Koeberg nuclear power station in a year.
“Cape Town uses about 12 TW a year,” he says.
“The situation poses a real risk of rolling blackouts similar to those experienced in 2008,” claims the report published for public comment by Eskom. So the question facing property owners right now is how best to prepare for the situation.
Standby generators are an option and, while expensive, provide some convenience when Eskom cuts power to an entire suburb, or several suburbs at a time. The diesel generators are expensive to buy and run but can provide power for short periods when Eskom disrupts the normal supply.
The other option is to stock up on battery-powered lights, buy a portable gas stove for cooking, consider replacing your existing stove with a gas model and even install a solar water heater for which Eskom will pay about 30% of the cost.
Lakmeerharan says that consumers throughout South Africa need to take energy conservation seriously because there is a real likelihood that rolling blackouts will be a reality for a sustained period unless something is done to conserve power on the one hand and generate more power on the other.
“There needs to be a balance between supply and demand,” he says, “and right now we are facing an imbalance between the two,” he adds.
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Last time we were threatened by Eskom the government had to give in to their demands for massive subsidies. Obviously the Gravy Train Heroes have now spent all the money that was granted and now want more. What easier way than to threaten more black-outs, and to hold the country to ransom again to get what they want. Surely it's time to fire their entire board and bring in candidates who know how to run a business and in particular those qualified to run an electricity generating and supply business properly. This is a prime example of the great mistake of BEE. Surely by now the entire world can see how stupid our leaders are, and how ridiculous the South African Crony system is. - Fred Murgatroyd
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