The most damning accusation against electricity supply in South Africa is the unpredictability of load shedding. Stage 6 load shedding was announced over the weekend shortly after unit 1 of the Koeberg power station was synchronised with the grid. It was labelled a breakthrough.
Over the rest of the weekend, however, units at other power stations started failing while “emergency reserves” had to be topped up. All it means is that Eskom’s diesel power stations simply cannot store enough fuel to keep running. These open-cycle gas turbines should only be used during emergencies. But now it is an emergency when they cannot be used.
On Monday, Eskom announced the “good news” that load shedding will be reduced to Stage 4, only to implement Stage 6 again during the night from Tuesday afternoon. The reason Eskom provided is unforeseen breakdowns.
These power interruptions are sowing destruction in the country’s economy and people’s lives. While most households and businesses have adapted to getting by during power outages lasting about two hours, four hours are simply too long. Batteries and other forms of power storage simply do not last that long.
The heat wave currently affecting Southern Africa is most probably also contributing to the unpredictability of power provision. Not only are the generation units less effective in higher temperatures, but the power consumption of cold rooms, refrigerators and water plants also skyrocket.
Although it attracts less attention, more and more municipalities are struggling to keep their reservoirs full. There are certain residential areas in Kimberley (Sol Plaatje Municipality) and Hartswater (Phokwane Municipality) that have not had running water for weeks. The water systems were not designed to stand still for up to six hours per day.
This raises the question of whether Eskom truly is oblivious, does it really come as a surprise when it has to increase load shedding. Waning diesel reserves, increased demand and the state of overworked generation units are no secret, after all.
Regardless of whether Eskom is lying or is truly oblivious, the impact remains the same. So, the long-term solution would be to see Eskom as nothing more than backup; everyone who are able to afford it should become independent of Eskom and rejoice when there is power in the grid.
Where will South Africa’s help come from? Not from Eskom or the electricity minister in the presidency.
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