In a country of approximately 60 million, according to the Worldometer elaboration of the United Nations data, there are of course millions of people who have become accustomed to the impact and importance of electricity. Many are even unaware that there was a time when the world had no idea there was such a thing as electricity and gadgets were inanimate objects yet to be discovered. That is a thing of the past and today if you take away electricity from a fourteen year old the world seems like it is coming to an end.
Many South African teenagers on the other had seem to be surviving just fine with long hours of not having electricity. South Africa has been experiencing power outages both scheduled and unscheduled since late 2007 due to various reasons. This can either be the results of an overload in the system, copper-cable theft or a substation explosions. In August 2007according to The Economist, power outages around this period were caused by shortages in coal and in 2014 there were delays in the building of new plants and also the maintaining of existing plants. In 2019, power outages were again linked to the poor maintenance of plants and also a shortage of diesel. Diesel powered open-cycle turbines had been used to provide electricity in cases of emergencies but it was apparent that they were used more often than usual resulting in the shortage of diesel.
In April this year, Hartmut Winkler from Mail & Guardian reported that about 35% of Eskom’s power plants were “idle” due to maintenance issues or faults in their systems. The issue of setting up new plants is also still at large and according to Eskom the power outages may persist for years, about five years to be exact. Currently, the plants that we know or those that are currently working are said to be experiencing a decline in performance cause the notion to question whether there are alternative solutions. During the 2021 State of Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that there is a plan in motion and there are alternative sources.
Energy Analyst, Chris Yelland stated that the Eskom Energy supply crisis will not reach a positive note any time soon and that the best solution might just be getting off the national grid. The best way for Eskom to maintain its existing coal fleet would require them to take their generating plants offline which would mean another disruption to the energy supply. The government however, intends to add 2,000MW of new generation and 2,600MW newables, which might have to be obtained through state procurement. Not to get excited tough as Yelland states that none of this will be connected to the grid for the next three years.
In 2008, there had been a consideration of implementing the solar panel system that had been used in Germany. This system was said to have fed the national grid and at times generated more electricity than could be used. On the other hand, there was also a metering system solution that was eventually not best fit for the purpose of being as much a solution as the council in Johannesburg had expected.
The best form of hope we can hold onto now is that there are alternatives that are being looked into and deadlines for all these ‘calls to action’. As for whether we will have to live with the possibility of power cuts or loadshedding for the next three to five years, the odds are fairly with us.
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