SA battling blackouts as Eskom's weekend woes continue
Stage 4 load-shedding was still the order of the day on Sunday, following Eskom’s announcement on Saturday that the cyclone in Mozambique affected the supply of power to South Africa from that country.
"Unfortunately, even with the implementation of Stage 4 load shedding today, Eskom experienced a further decline in water reserves, which was used to supplement generation capacity", said the embattled power utility. .
"The management of diesel and water resources is essential to ensure that the impact of the potential stage of load shedding in the week can be reduced.”
But according to energy expert Chris Yelland, implementing stage 4 load shedding over a weekend is unprecedented. He says the cyclone in Mozambique is only part of the reason for the implementation of stage 4.
"The bigger problem right now is that some 5000 megawatts of existing Eskom coal-fired generation plants are out of service as a result of boiler tub leaks and these are problems in the boiler as a result of inadequate maintenance," says Yelland.
He adds that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) can play a critical part in bringing new generation capacity onto the electricity grid.
"Within the next six months to three years this is where the solutions lie. The solution does not lie in new coal power because it takes ten years to build a Medupi and Kusile,” he explains.
"Coal and nuclear are not solutions - not in the next six months, not in the next year, not in the next five years, not even in the next decade, " insists Yelland.
Economist Francios Stoftberg says if Eskom continues prolonging load shedding, it could see the country heading towards a technical recession again, adding that if there is no power, there is no growth in the growth domestic product (GDP).
Stoftberg advises businesses to get generators in order to keep their companies running.