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South Africans thanked for power saving

Francis Hweshe

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26 August 2011

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba has thanked South Africans for saving electricity in winter, when demand was highest – while appealing to households and businesses to keep saving, especially during Eskom's summer maintenance season.

State company Eskom had forecast a demand of 37 500MW during winter, but it fell to around 37 000MW.

Addressing journalists in Cape Town on Thursday, Gigaba cautioned that while the load-shedding of 2008 had been averted, "our electricity supply and demand is delicately balanced, requiring increased vigilance and a heightened level of operational scrutiny".

He said that for the country to push through winter without severe disruptions was thanks to Eskom's power stations and transmission lines performing well, and 600MW being supplied to the national grid by independent power producers, among other initiatives.

The recent coal miners' strike and its potential impact on Eskom was a concern, he said, but the power utility had contingency plans in place.

"Eskom is busy rebuilding its stockpiles so that it will enter the rainy season with some confidence of fuel adequacy.

"We know that the system will become increasingly tight until such a time that Eskom's new base-load power stations start to deliver electricity into the grid, starting with the first power from Medupi scheduled for the end of 2012."

He said that the next challenge facing electricity supply security was the summer maintenance season, when Eskom worked on its stations and power lines to ensure that they operated reliably throughout the year.

The minister warned that illegal connections, electricity and cable theft "only served to exacerbate the problem by placing additional undue pressure on our distribution networks, resulting in more power outages and local level."

Gigaba said that the government would treat such crimes as "economic sabotage, so that necessary seriousness is attached by the law-enforcement institutions for their combating."

Eskom chief executive Brian Dames echoed Gigaba, saying that such behaviour amounted to "economic crime".

He said that South Africa had enough electricity to meet its demand, but needed more reserves.

Dames also warned that supply was set to be tight during the summer, and that consumers needed to save power, particularly between 5pm and 8pm when demand peaked.

Source: BuaNews