Load shedding: SA’s need for new power sources dire

Load shedding will continue until April. The last thing South Africans wanted to hear as they grapple with surviving Covid-19 and the impact the pandemic has had on our economy and employment.

The nation was plunged into a frustrating week of Stage 2 load shedding from Thursday, after two generating units at the Kusile Power station tripped.

Energy analyst Chris Yelland says dark days are ahead for the next three months, saying Eskom had implemented a “code red risk for load shedding”.

Yelland told eNCA: “Eskom has indicated, and this comes from the Eskom website so this is Eskom’s forecast and not my forecast, what they call ‘a high-risk probability of load shedding, every week for the next three months’.”

He added: “It means they don’t have any so-called reserve generation capacity and any further loss of supply and generation units will result in load shedding.”

Yelland went as far as saying in order to get independent electricity suppliers, “government should simply get out of the way”.

It’s disappointing to see that the failure to procure new power was contributing to more load shedding. It should be all hands on deck, and any independent power suppliers should be welcomed with open arms.

Our economy cannot suffer further setbacks due to lack of power.

Dark, frustrating days loom. Eina.

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