From the The Star
Eskom cautions on rolling blackouts
January 10 2012 at 10:50am
Staff Reporter and Sapa
POWER utility Eskom has warned of a “very high” risk of rolling blackouts around the country.
“We are working very closely with our large customers to see if they can reduce their load… but the risk is very high. We are doing our utmost to avoid it,” spokeswoman Hilary Joffe said yesterday.
Power outages are a possibility because of planned maintenance, an increase in unplanned maintenance and an ever-increasing demand for power.
“Summer is always a time when we do maintenance and take advantage of lower demand. The maintenance is more this year than previous years as we are tackling a backlog,” Joffe said.
“We are experiencing quite a lot of unplanned maintenance. We are not getting performance from our generating plants. There are also quite a lot of technical problems, which are cutting supply further.”
This had forced Eskom to begin to use its “emergency reserves” – gas turbines which represent 5 percent of the total grid and are saved for emergencies due to being highly expensive to run.
Joffe warned that SA’s power supply would be tight until the completion of the Medupi and Kusile power stations.
From The Cape Argus
Blackout alert
January 10 2012 at 01:32pm
SIBUSISO NKOMO
Staff Reporter
HIGH electricity usage and scheduled maintenance may lead to load-shedding across South Africa over the next few weeks, says Eskom.
The power supplier said emergency reserves were running low and its bigger customers, including municipalities, have been asked to reduce use as 13 percent of units are under maintenance.
Eskom spokeswoman Hilary Joffe said “the risk to the system is high”.
“It doesn’t mean we are going to load-shed; we are trying our utmost to contain it. The system will be tight over the next few years with new units coming later. But we have been keeping lights on, while deferring maintenance. We must address the backlog particularly now in summer because demand is lower.
“Maintenance has reduced capacity and we are also having technical issues. People need to switch off wherever they can to help. We are not saying we are going to switch off,” she said.
Joffe said that at midday yesterday Eskom was using emergency reserves.
Joffe said alerts would be broadcast on TV and radio soon and towards the end of January Eskom intends making public what the state of supply is.
“We therefore request all South Africans to partner with us to keep the lights on by switching off all non-essential electrical equipment, particularly air-conditioning, geysers and swimming pool pumps.”
Tweeting about the issue, premier Helen Zille said: “Huge pressure on Eskom network. Must reduce demand or declare an emergency. Pls (sic) switch off all non essential appliances and equipment”.
The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it was “deeply concerned about the lack of information and scenario planning from Eskom” on load-shedding.
Chamber president Michael Bagraim said Eskom had informed the organisation that there was the possibility of load-shedding from last night through to February.
“While we appreciate the fact that they contacted us so we could alert our members, we are not at all happy with the lack of information available.
“Basic scenario planning should be in place. For the country’s power supply to possibly be prejudiced in this way, at this time, and this economic climate, is just not acceptable,” he said.
Bagraim said the lack of power security is driving away investment.
“Government keeps demanding that business increase jobs. But how can we, when we are not in a position to operate our business in the first place?
“The fact that we are facing such an uncertain future calls for action. Let’s all pitch in where we can. We all know the fundamentals of energy saving. Let’s work together to help each other out.”
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