Load shedding crisis: ‘We have left it for too long and it’s too late’

It’s going to be tough for Santa to find his way around South Africa for the foreseeable future as a multitude of factors saw Eskom bump the country back up to stage 6 load shedding for the eighth time this year.

Load shedding began comparatively benignly enough at 5am yesterday at Stage 2. At 6.05am it went up to stage 4 “due to further breakdowns and delayed returns of generating units to service”.

Then at 11.28am Eskom put the country immediately on stage 6 due to a “high number of breakdowns and Eskom’s requirement to strictly preserve the remaining emergency generation reserves”, according to Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

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He noted Koeberg was going offline for planned refuelling and maintenance which had to be done.

“Unit 1 has been ramping down to the current 659MW over the past few weeks. This will continue until it is closed. That’s how you take it offline, deplete the fuel and switch off,” Matshantsha said.

Since Tuesday night, breakdowns of two generating units at Grootvlei Power Station occurred, as well as a unit each at Arnot, Duvha, Kendal, Kriel and Tutuka power stations. In addition, two units at Arnot, a unit each at Camden, Kendal and Kriel power stations have been delayed in returning to service.

Mantshantsha noted that together with the October chimney failure which forced three generation units offline at Kusile Power Station, further available generation capacity “would be reduced and exacerbate the occurrence of loadshedding over the next six to 12 months”.

Load shedding bankrupting business owners

Restaurant owner Marinda Toerien said load shedding remained challenging despite efforts to keep the power on.

“We have a few generators that help but customers wanted to sit in a restaurant without the deafening sound of the generators in the background,” she said.

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Toerien said many residents preferred going through the drive-through to get takeaways to rush home during load shedding.

“I hope the country’s situation changes soon because the government does not reach out to small business enterprises. There is no rebate for us. Crime is high, we have to hire our armed response, little or no electricity, buy our generators and so the list goes on,” she said.

Salon owner Karla Aldrich said load shedding was bankrupting her.

“We have to refill the 25-litre generator every second day while our elector bill is sky high,” she said.

Independent environmental consultant Christy Bragg said the country has not yet invested sufficiently in the cheaper renewable energy build to help reduce our overall reliance on coal.

“There are a few interim solutions for the average Joe. One can get an inverter for less than R1000, but many people cannot afford even that,” she said.

Bragg said people had no other choice but to use solar-powered and battery-powered lights, gas cylinders and stoves and portable power banks as basics to survive load shedding.

Measures in place to avoid national blackout

Energy expert Chris Yelland said the situation was serious because Koeberg unit 1 would be switched off for the next six months.

“This is not helping the situation; it’s making it worse. I wish I was wrong about the energy crisis because I don’t want to be a doomsday prophet,” he said.

Yelland said it was concerning that the unit was going offline while we experienced stage 6 load shedding.

“But it does not mean we will have a national blackout. It does increase the potential risk, but the risk is relatively low. There are still various security measures in place to avoid a national blackout,” he said.

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Yelland warned consumers not to see the level of load shedding as an indicator of imminent blackouts.

Energy expert Clyde Mallison said he didn’t want to say, ‘I told you so’.

“I’m afraid it’s playing out exactly as I predicted and a blackout is possible. I am hugely concerned about a blackout but I am more concerned about what happens when we get back on again because nothing will have changed,” he said.

“We have left it for too long and it’s too late, the fact that we are having load shedding, whether it was stage 1 or stage 8 means we have left it too long,” he added.

Mallison said any stage load shedding implied a failure of the energy supply.

“The stages are not linear so when you move from load shedding stage to stage, it starts impacting infrastructure such as water supply, and sewage works can tolerate the shut down for such long periods,” he said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za