Page 3 - Energize July 2022

FROM THE EDITOR:

by Roger Lilley, Now Media Time to end load shedding

t seems that load shedding is here to stay. Despite for Stage 6 for the area in which I live looks like this: Power will be
assurances to the contrary, many people believe that off between the hours of 01h00 to 03h30; 07h00 to 09h30; 15h00 to
Igovernment isn’t taking the country’s electricity crisis 17h30; and 23h00 to 00h00. That’s three times two-and-a-half hours
seriously. It was, therefore, encouraging to hear Pravin plus one. Eight hours.
Gordhan, the Minister of Public Enterprises, say, during a I compared my schedule with schedules for other areas and found
recent online media briefing, that it’s time for government to that different areas have different schedules, some of which have
“scrap the damn red tape”. shorter periods, or fewer periods, of load shedding than others.
This is, I think, exactly what his colleagues in the It seems to me large areas (which require more power)
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, which is experience power outages for less time than smaller areas do. This is
responsible for the provision of electricity, need to do. probably because Eskom can shed more load when turning off a large
Considering some of the obstacles independent power area than it can when disconnecting a small area. This means that
producers have to clear before they can hope to win a areas with lighter loads suffer longer outages. This is unacceptable.
government contract to supply much-needed (I should One of Eskom’s many CEOs used to call on the public to “live lightly”,
say urgently needed) power to the grid, it seems that the meaning to use electricity sparingly. But now, communities which
government is opposed to buying power from the private require less power face longer and more frequent periods of load
sector. shedding than communities which use more power do.
Just as the government wants a nationalised health service When load shedding began, most of us believed it would be a
rather than private medical aids and private hospitals, so too it short-term problem. Once the public realised that this was likely to be
wants power provision to remain under government control. an ongoing problem, people bought generators or inverters to meet
But history shows that private sector heathcare developed at least some of their own power needs.
because of the government’s inability to provide high-quality But it’s almost impossible – without spending many tens of
public sector heathcare. This is seen in the education-sector thousands of rand – for householders or businesses to provide the
too. So much so, that most government employees send their power needed to keep essential equipment powered during load
children to private, or semi-private, schools and attend private shedding. Security systems, entertainment systems, gates and garage
hospitals when they fall ill or give birth to children. Some doors, appliances and computers all need to be supplied with a
even travel overseas for treatment, which surely reflects their reliable source of electricity – at the correct frequency and voltage.
opinion of South Africa’s state-run hospitals. Like many other people in South Africa, I work from home and my
The reality is that the private sector alone can provide small 600 W office inverter can no longer keep up with the frequency
reliable, affordable electricity on time and on budget. and length of power outages imposed upon my small town. The
Load shedding began in 2008 and has become steadily battery has already been replaced, and might have to be again soon
worse. More and more people distrust Eskom’s “excuses” and because the unit no longer provides the power needed to keep my
the recent labour dispute – which was blamed for Stage 6 load computer and internet modem going for more than an hour or so
shedding – demonstrates that even its employees are fed up. during load shedding. It seems that either the battery is not being
At a recent media briefing where Eskom announced the fully charged between outages or the battery is being cycled too
need to initiate Stage 6 load shedding procedures, the power often.
utility’s chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, said that Stage The electricity crisis must be seen for what it is – a crisis. Crisis
6 would mean six hours of power outages in every 24-hour management is needed. The private sector can meet the challenge
cycle. He was wrong. I have a prepaid service from Eskom and create jobs at the same time. But to do this sooner rather than
distribution, and I have eight hours of outages per day during later, the “red tape” must be cut, and more independent power
Stage 6 load shedding. producers must be contracted to provide the power needed to make
The schedule on the official Eskom App “EskomSePush” load shedding a thing of the past.

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