In response to my previous post, Saha and Terin Selena asked me what was going on with Eskom and the power outages. So I thought that I would do a little research and write somewhat of an article about the current Eskom situation…

Parts of South Africa were plunged into darkness early Monday morning in two-and-a-half-hour rolling blackouts. Many also experienced a couple hours without power on Monday night, according to operators at Eskom’s toll-free hot line.

This was due to Eskom’s capacity being reduced by almost a quarter because of technical problems and routine maintenance.

Eskom had to be pulled off the national grid as four of their generators experienced technical problems, causing “a major capacity shortage”.

Eskom claims that due to “a shortage of liquid fuel”, a number of their gas turbines and power stations could not operate; causing rolling power outages across the nation.

These turbines that are lacking fuel were usually used to avoid load shedding. “This isn’t a major problem, but it is making a contribution and aggravating a very serious situation.” Said Andrew Etzinger, Eskom’s general manager of strategy.

“We don’t use the normal diesel, but a slightly different type which has a different content.” Etzinger said.

But the industry denies that there is a shortage of diesel. The South African Petroleum Industry Association’s director, Connel Ngcukana, said that they are not aware of any fuel shortage and that a meeting to discuss fuel supplies for December will be held today.

The blackouts are expected to continue until Friday. Etzinger stated that no problems are expected for the weekend before Christmas.

“By Friday certain out-of-service generators will be back in service and things should then start clearing up.” Etzinger said.

“We’re seeing a general shortage in capacity across the country because at this time of the year we take plants offline for maintenance,” Etzinger said.

“No load shedding is forecast for the weeks commencing 17 December 2007 leading up to and including Christmas and New Year as the general pattern for demand during this period decreases. However, Eskom has a high maintenance schedule during this period which means that the risk for load shedding remains.” Eskom stated this afternoon.

Consumers are to be warned that the system is expected to be tight during the second week of January 2008 because the demand for electricity is very high during this period. Eskom will make use of emergency energy resources such as using their gas turbines and buying back power from large industrial customers.

All consumers are urged to conserve whatever energy they can by switching off their geysers and non-essential equipment. Eskom urges consumers to use electricity sparingly which will assist in the reduction of electricity demand.

Eskom’s load shedding schedules are available on the web and can be found here on their website.

I’m not too happy with this even though Eskom “apologizes for any inconvenience that has been caused by the load shedding.”

I want to go to the USA or the UK and sit my ass in front of a computer with high-speed internet access… And try a cup of Starbucks coffee. Even if they don’t have coffee-flavored coffee amongst all their flavors!

- I said while chatting to David earlier on Google Talk.

South Africa is a “developing” third world country and that, “We should be a first world country by 2020, if all goes well…” David told me.

I don’t want to be over thirty years old and still be living in South Africa in 2020 just to experience what the UK and the USA have to offer right now…

I can’t wait till I move overseas some day.

Resources:

• Eskom’s Media Release - 11 December 2007
• The Star