Dark times ahead for South Africa.
After the festive season loadshedding break, Eskom delivered a reality check at yesterdays media briefing. “The power system will be severely constrained and will begin to ease once new generating capacity comes online and other levers materialise. The system will remain tight in Summer. Risks of extreme weather related outages such as wet coal, unplanned outage extensions and unavailability of primary energy may worsen the situation”. Add this to the ever increase unplanned outages due to breakdowns, and the outlook for the next three years is very dark.
Energy & infrastructure expert, Prof Anton Eberhard, stated “It’s not widely understood that Eskom has lost more power capacity over the past year (eg Duvha, Majuba) than it will build in the next 2 years. Hidden in Eskom’s presentation is the fact that Ingula is now due in 2016 and the Kusile 1st unit only in 2017. The much needed Ingula peak power scheme has also been delayed and Medupi the switch on is running late.”
While Eskom has been focussing attention on new power stations under construction, maintenance of and repairs to existing power stations continues to fall further behind. As yet no work has started on the reconstruction of the Duhva Unit 3 Boiler which ruptured in March 2014.
We caution Kimberley Residents to be ready for loadshedding at any time with little or no prior notice. Eskom continuously operates with a VERY slim margin between demand and available supply. Unforeseen problems on the power grid can easily force Eskom to introduce emergency loadshedding.
Click here for Kimberley / Sol Plaatje Loadshedding Schedules
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