Not that we're complaining or anything, but have you been wondering why South Africa's crippling blackouts have shrunk from up to 12 hours a day to just over two hours daily in recent weeks, after inflicting a massive hit on the economy?
Not that we’re complaining or anything, but have you been wondering why South Africa’s crippling blackouts have shrunk from up to 12 hours a day to just over two hours daily in recent weeks, after inflicting a massive hit on the economy?The improvement has surprised many citizens who had become hardened to the rolling outages, imposed by state utility Eskom to safeguard the grid whenever demand outstrips supply.
The ruling African National Congress secretary general Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday proudly declared that ‘interventions’ at Eskom ‘are beginning to show definite signs of turnaround’. But energy experts say demand for electricity in the continent’s most industrialised economy has been lower than expected due to above average temperatures this winter – thanks to the El Nino weather phenomenon.‘Even at the height of winter, demand at peak consumption times is around 30 000MW instead of the 37 000 forecast by the government,’ he told AFP.
Unable to produce enough power, Eskom has imposed power cuts for several years, and these worsened to record levels in recent months.Since last month, Eskom has managed to ramp up generation to achieve an average output of 60% at its 14 mainly coal-fired power stations.‘That’s why we’re starting to see that during certain periods of the day… we don’t have loadshedding. We’re starting to balance the situation.
To help make up the shortfall in supply, Eskom has also turned to emergency turbines tath burn through 14 litres of fuel per second – 50 400 litres per hour.Cape {town} Etc discount:
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