Johannesburg - Switch off or face an icy-cold winter with rolling black-outs. This was the message from Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba at Eskom’s Megawatt Park headquarters in Joburg on Monday.
He said repairs to several of Eskom’s power stations could wait no longer and that stations receiving maintenance would mean a lower output of electricity.
In addition, Eskom’s 8 percent electricity tariff hike had “changed the game” for power in South Africa.
“While the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) decision… is welcomed, the implications of the lower tariffs and revenue approved on Eskom’s operations and overall business sustainability are currently being investigated.
“This decision is surely going to have far-reaching implications.”
He said the regulator’s decision was fair to consumers, but not to Eskom. On February 28, Nersa granted Eskom an 8 percent electricity tariff hike each year for the next five years. The parastatal had applied for a 16 percent rise in each of the next five years.
Gigaba said that Eskom’s power stations were at a stage where plant reliability could no longer be compromised by delaying maintenance.
Repairs normally took place during summer to maintain maximum capacity for the cold weather but this year would be the first time Eskom planned for long-term repairs of up to 120 days in winter.
Electricity usage also increases drastically during winter and Gigaba was anticipating an “extremely cold” season, based on recent temperatures. “Within this peak time, South African electricity demand rises by more than 3 000 MW which is larger than all SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries combined.”
A 3 000 MW increase represents nearly 10 percent of Eskom’s most recently reported peak demand of 33 628 MW on April 18.
“I would like to urge the country to continue supporting our efforts of keeping the lights on, especially as we go into winter which will be even more challenging.”
In January 2008, rolling black-outs hit the entire country as Eskom could not cope with demand - a consequence of a lack of power stations and crumbling infrastructure. At the time - the mass load-shedding months of January to March - coal stocks stood at an average of 13 days.
Currently, coal reserves were at 47 days, down slightly from an all-time high of 49 days during February, said Eskom chief executive Brian Dames.
He also revealed that they had outdone their prediction in reducing consumer and industrial demand. Demand decreased by 585 watts for the 2012/2013 year, beating the utility’s mid-year prediction of 447 watts.
The majority of this decrease was driven by residential and municipal reductions, which accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total.
The industrial and mining sector decreased their usage by almost 20 percent, followed by the commercial sector.
Eskom said that since it began its drive to reduce demand in 2005, it had resulted in a saving of 3 586 MW, almost the equivalent of the output of a power station.
The state of the system report forecast that usage would increase up until July 15 at the peak of demand, 36 885 MW, and the parastatal said the system would be “extremely tight” over the next few months.
Gigaba also listed stations that had under-produced recently, including the Songo substation in Mozambique that was damaged during the floods in January. This more than halved the capacity of the station, from 1 500 MW to 650 MW, which is imported to South Africa.
One of Koeberg’s units had also experienced an unplanned outage which put “added strain” on coal-powered stations.
“So too, are the prevailing poor coal quality, resulting in significant load losses at some of the power stations, particularly at Tutuka,” said the minister.
How to lower electricity output to stop blackouts:
In heeding Eskom and Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba’s call to cut their electricity consumption to avoid blackouts and load shedding, geysers should be households’ first concern.
Eskom said that a household geyser makes up about 40 percent of electricity usage of common appliances in the average home.
This is followed by space heaters (16 percent), pool pumps (11 percent) and lights (6 percent).
* Geysers: Turn your geyser down to 60°C and switch it off when you leave for work, and insulate your geyser and pipes with specialised blankets. Take a shower instead of a bath and only use warm water if it is necessary. Install solar geysers and heat pumps, which can cut your water heating costs by up to 67 percent.
* Lighting: Switch to energy-saving bulbs, which use about 80 percent less electricity and last between six and eight times longer than traditional bulbs. Use motion-sensor security lights instead of leaving a light on all night.
* Appliances: Switch off appliances at the wall, as standby on certain electronics such as TVs or DVD players can use up to half the electricity they would if they were switched on.
* Kitchen: Ensure your oven door is closed until the food is done and switch off hot plates before the food is done as they retain enough heat to finish cooking. Only boil as much water as you need in the kettle, and let hot food cool down before refrigerating it. Replacing the seals on the fridge will make the appliance use less energy, as well as making sure the fridge is not packed to the brim.
* Heating: Use a blanket or jersey instead of using heaters where possible, but heaters with a short warm-up time and a built-in thermostat are recommended if needed. Only heat the rooms that you are going to spend time in. Ceilings that have not been insulated are the result of up to 40 percent heat loss from a home.
* Laundry: Only use the washing machine for full loads of dirty clothes, as this appliance uses the same amount of electricity no matter how full it is. Use the warm water setting and reduce the temperature from 90 to 60°C when washing bed linen to cut back on the amount of electricity you use. You can also skip the prewash cycle for clothes that aren’t particularly dirty. This can cut down hot water usage by up to 20 percent.
* Pool Pumps: Only run the pump outside of peak times (6-9am and 7-10pm) and use a pool cover, especially during winter. Cleaning your pool pump filters keep the pump operating efficiently.
The Star