Although risk of national blackout is low, the impact would be severe

In an effort to address the risk of potential electricity blackouts and a collapse of the national electricity grid during a power system emergency, the National Rationalised Specifications Association of South Africa (NRS) is working on implementing preventive measures.

Chairman of the management committee of the NRS, Vally Padayachee, explained at a media briefing on Wednesday that the NRS is a voluntary association made up of municipalities, the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities of Southern Africa, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), and Eskom.

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The NRS Association aims to standardise equipment specifications across the South African electricity supply and distribution industries. It develops guidelines which can be adopted as national standards by SABS or Nersa.

Electricity crisis

As South Africa is currently facing an electricity crisis, Padayachee said the NRS Association has developed guidelines for a response to system emergencies by electricity utilities, private and public sectors, and the general public.

Padayachee explained that the code of practice aims to prevent blackouts and grid collapses by ensuring an equitable distribution of electricity shortages, avoiding catastrophic consequences, and prioritising essential and critical loads.

“The NRS Association, in collaboration with Nersa, is working on the development and approval of the third edition of the code as a priority,” he said.

Power system emergencies

Padaychee said the code is essential for managing power system emergencies caused by various threats and vulnerabilities, such as infrastructure failures, extreme weather incidents, vandalism, and resource disruptions.

“While the risk of a national blackout is low due to operating protocols and protection systems, the impact would be severe, affecting critical sectors of society and the economy,” he said.

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The third edition of the code of practice includes several changes that provide tools to protect system stability, including load shedding stages, strategic curtailment, and instructions for control centres.

“It is important to note that emergency load reduction is not solely caused by generation capacity shortages but can also result from transmission or distribution network constraints.

“Prudent power system operation requires a balance of measures, including investment in capacity, energy conservation schemes, and maintenance of plant availability,” he said.

Grid collapse

The NRS Association emphasised that load shedding does not necessarily lead to a grid collapse. It stressed that the Eskom system operator and other control centres have techniques and methods at their disposal to maintain grid stability.

“Power system emergencies are unpredictable, but the NRS 048-9 Edition 3 Code of Practice aims to provide a structured and reliable approach to restrict electricity demand in any contingency,” Padayachee said.