Tag Archive for: Blackouts

Andrew Stegmann
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Eskom Urges South Africans to Use Electricity Sparingly

Eskom, South Africa’s main electricity provider, urged South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly to help them limit the impact of loadshedding as it will be implementing stage 2 loadshedding from 10pm tonight until 5am tomorrow morning.

Eskom spokesman Sikhonathi Mantshantsha said that stage 2 loadshedding will be repeated again Wednesday night starting at 10pm and 5am in the morning.

“This loadshedding is necessary to preserve emergency generation reserves in preparation for higher demand expected in January when economic activity resumes. During this period Eskom will continue to pursue increased reliability maintenance as planned and previously communicated to the public throughout the year,” said Mantshantsha.

He added that Eskom currently had over 9 700 MW of capacity on planned maintenance while another 11 300 MW was unavailable due to unplanned maintenance.

Eskom said their teams were working around the clock to return as many of these generation units to service. Mantshantsha said they would communicate timeously should there be any significant changes to the power system and to the loadshedding as planned today.

About two weeks ago, Eskom implemented Stage 2 loadshedding that started Secember 12 at 6am until 11pm. At the time, Eskom said it needed to implement the loadshedding in order to replenish the depleted emergency generation reserves for the coming week.

“As Eskom ramps up its planned maintenance during the lower demand summer period, as previously committed, it has had a large number of unforeseen breakdowns from the ageing, unreliable plant over the past few days. In addition to this, Eskom has taken two generation units at the Kendal Power Station offline in compliance with environmental legislation. Similarly, four generation units at the Camden Power Station have been taken offline to conserve the integrity of the ash dam facility,” said Eskom at the time.

 

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Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

South African Cabinet Approves New National Energy Plan

In the midst of more electricity outages, courtesy of faults with Eskom’s power generation plans, the South African Cabinet has approved a new national energy plan.

Cabinet on Thursday announced it had approved the promulgation of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), South Africa’s policy blueprint for the electricity sector.

The IRP spells out a proposed energy mix for the country until 2030. In a statement, Cabinet said “most of the inputs” from experts in the sector, the public and academia, received during a public consultation process last year were included in the 2019 IRP.

“The plan proposes nine interventions to ensure the country responds to the energy needs for the next decade. The interventions draw from the current baseline of the demand and supply of the country’s energy and the country’s international obligations to the minimum emission standards,” the statement said.

“The plan remains within the policy framework of pursuing a diversified energy mix that reduces reliance on a single or few primary energy sources. It will be revised in line with the changing energy sector environment.”

The approved IRP can be accessed on the mineral resources and energy website after it is gazetted. The IRP was released as the country is experiencing another round of rotational power cuts as Eskom moves to fix boiler tube leaks at five of the utility’s generating units.

Business Unity South Africa this week warned that any further delay in releasing the IRP would prejudice procurement and investment decisions to ensure security of power supply.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: Jan Kubita [1], [2].