Durban - Durban manufacturers want urgent talks with Eskom to discuss managing their own load-shedding schedules in line with operational needs as losses because of power cuts have risen to millions a day.
At a meeting held at the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday to discuss solutions to the energy crisis, Hans Beier, the chief executive officer of Beier Industries, said an unscheduled power cut from 10am to 10pm last week had cost the company R4 million and 20 hours of production.
Beier said as generators were not a feasible alternative for his filtration products plants, of which there were four in the province, the business’s future was at the mercy of the Stage 2 power cuts.
He said the two-hour cuts were counter-productive to industry. “It takes us at least one and a half hours to get going again. We want to ask Eskom if we can’t cut operation at our plant for one day of the week and then have no more shutdowns for the rest of the time,” he said.
The businessman said Eskom must assist manufacturers and industry to plan ahead for power cuts.
But a spokesman for Eskom, Khulu Phasiwe, said the utility had already received such suggestions from many business chambers in the country but could do nothing without approval from the national energy regulator and the Department of Energy.
“There are processes and I don’t know when Eskom will discuss these ideas with the regulator.”
Lee Bridges, of Umgeni Iron Works, said the foundry could possibly cut electricity by 32% if a plan to allow for self-managed load shedding was introduced. However, under the present plan, he said, the 120-year-old company would find it hard to keep its doors open beyond two years.
Slashed
Bridges said power cuts had slashed their production by more than 20%.
He added that numerous calls to Eskom and the eThekwini Municipality to discuss more consistent methods of load shedding had yielded nothing. “No one answers the phone,” he said.
Marilyn Govender, the natural resources manager of the Sugar Association, said talks with the government – which started in 2008 – on alternative energy from the industry’s 14 mills were at an advanced stage. She said the government had promised a decision on the R80 billion plan, which could start within six years, was “imminent”.
The plan could yield up to 500 megawatts of power a year.
Sugar mills produce their own electricity from biomass and have about 100MW to spare in the cane cutting season.
Phasiwe said alternative energy sources were also subject to lengthy administration and regulation which included licensing from the energy regulator.
Butch Carr, of Bosch Holdings, said municipalities were divided on promoting alternative energy to ratepayers as profits from electricity sales went to subsidising other utilities such as water and services.
“Municipalities pay Eskom about 75c a kilowatt, consumers pay about R1.20 a kilowatt for that same power. The more ratepayers turn to alternative energy the more the municipalities’ revenues go down,” he said.
The chief executive of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dumile Cele, said a report from the meeting, which would include an accurate calculation of the financial losses experienced by Durban businesses and what jobs were under threat, would be presented to the city and Eskom officials. She promised feedback within two weeks.
The Mercury