Page 11 - AfrElec Week 29 2022

AfrElec POLICY AfrElec

SA needs 6,000 MW more capacity

to address rolling blackouts

SOUTH AFRICA POWER blackouts will continue in South Africa (ANC) heard a call for the government to declare
until the country adds an additional 4,000 to the electricity crisis a state of disaster.
6,000 MW of capacity, a spokesperson for the TimesLive reported on Wednesday that
national power utility Eskom has warned. the embattled power utility would implement
Eskom’s Sikonathi Mantshantsha told local load-shedding from 4pm until Thursday, July 21
radio station 702 on Wednesday, July 20 that and for shorter periods over the weekend. “The
some generating plants in Africa’s most-indus- stage of load-shedding for the rest of the period
trialised nation are old and inefficient and so is dependent on returning generating units to
must be decomissioned. service and will be confirmed closer to the time,”
“South Africa does not have enough capacity TimesLive quoted an Eskom official as saying in
to generate sufficient electricity for all of us, and a release.
that goes back to 2007. You cannot put a time- Old power stations that are coming to the end
frame [on when rolling blackouts will end]. Load of their useful life, Mantshantsha said, add to
shedding is here until you have 4,000 to 6,000 the battle with load-shedding. “Each year these
MW of capacity,” he said. power stations are getting older and some must
South Africa’s predominantly coal-fired be retired. That gap will keep growing if there is
plants have capacity to produce about 45,000 nothing to replace them,” he said.
MW. However, frequent breakdowns, vandal- As the old plants are decommissioned, that
ism of infrastructure and normal maintenance creates a demand for an additional 10,000 MW
depresses generation. To ensure that the grid of capacity that will need to be replaced on
does not totally collapse, Eskom institutes a strict top of the existing gap, he added, according to
national power rationing programme, known TimesLive.
locally as load-shedding. This leaves some areas The government is offering incentives for
without electricity for as long as 10 hours daily. independent power producers to invest in
As a result, some businesses have collapsed, renewable projects, but it will take at least 18
while others are investing in solar systems to months to generate around 1,800 MW of capac-
ensure greater energy security. A recent meet- ity, according to Mantshantsha.™
ing of the governing African National Congress

Week 28 14•July•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11