Power cuts in South Africa: authorities call for using electricity “parsimony”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has cut short overseas visits due to a further worsening of the country’s electricity crisis, has warned not to count on an improvement “short term”. “Given the uncertain performance of the fleet of coal-fired power plants in (the public company) Eskom, we will not be able to end load shedding in the short term. It’s the sad reality of a situation that’s been going on for a long time.”he writes in his weekly letter to the nation (link in English).

(While we work to urgently address the immediate problem of an unreliable power system, we are also working to lay the foundations for a lasting and lasting solution to the country’s electricity problems)

Intense load shedding

After several weeks of intense load shedding between June and July, in the middle of the southern winter, the first African industrial power is weighed down by new drastic cuts, the national network being unable to produce enough energy after years of mismanagement and corruption. This implies, for individuals as for businesses, several cuts of several hours, every day, for almost two weeks already. This load shedding system has been applied for fifteen years.

Traveling to the United States and London, the South African president announced an early return last week to respond to the crisis. “The past two weeks of load shedding have been extremely frustrating and difficult. Public anger is justified”he said, adding that the shortage of electricity “puts in danger” the economy.

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Small steps, big savings

The rise in temperatures with the onset of spring usually leads to lower consumption and lessens the pressure on aging and poorly maintained power stations. But a high number of outages has led to a dramatic drop in production, which is also suffering from coal supply problems.

South Africa draws 80% of its electricity from coal, creating serious pollution denounced by environmentalists. The public company Eskom, unable to produce enough energy for the country, calls on South Africans to use electricity sparingly. She launched a campaign to teach them some tricks. Eskom thus invites residents to turn off the lights in offices at night, avoid running swimming pool pumps and water heaters during peak hours

(Take part in the nationwide campaign to reduce electricity consumption and keep the power going! Implementing these little electricity-saving tips can help us all)

On a scale of eight possible levels of intensity, the country has reached the sixth critical stage. Cyril Ramaphosa announced in July an opening of the sector to the private sector. The country, which obtained 7.7 billion euros for its energy transition at COP26, signed the first agreements for the production of wind energy last week.

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