By Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
Political Bureau
Eskom will work closely with municipalities to ensure the lights don't go off during the World Cup.
Senior Eskom officials said yesterday they were ready for the tournament. No glitches that could disrupt electricity distribution and supply during matches were expected.
Eskom's chief officer for customer network business, Erica Johnson, said although the tournament would be held in winter when demand for electricity was high, Eskom would work with municipalities to ensure there were no power failures.
Municipalities supply electricity received from Eskom to households and businesses.
"Because electricity supply is in the municipalities, outside of Eskom, we need to partner with municipalities to make sure there is complete supply," Johnson said.
Continues Below ↓
She told the National Assembly public enterprises committee that Eskom would test its technical responsiveness should anything happen to the power grid in a series of exercises to be carried out this month and in May.
The committee chairperson ANC MP Vytjie Mentor, expressed concern that after the Confederations Cup last year there were power failures during Premier Soccer League matches at Loftus, Orlando and Bloemfontein stadiums.
It was important for Eskom to assure the nation there would be no repeat of such incidents during the World Cup, Mentor said.
Johnson said a major problem for Eskom was the theft of cables and transformers. But it was working on a plan to tighten security.
Eskom's chief officer for generation business, Brian Dames, said while Eskom could not take the blame for the power failures during PSL games, it was prepared to work with municipalities to keep the lights on during the World Cup.
But he warned that the amount of power available from 2011 onwards would be "very tight".
"As a country, we would have to work together to meet the requirement of that demand. We must understand as South Africans that we are not using electricity that efficiently. We have to focus on that," said Dames.
-
This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on March 03, 2010
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
