Dark days ahead for energy-strapped South Africa
1 day ago
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Constant power cuts are darkening the mood among South Africans, with President Thabo Mbeki admitting that government was at fault for ignoring growing energy needs.
Africa's largest economy is buckling under energy-pressures after failing to heed pleas by state power utility Eskom to invest more in electricity generation to keep up with the country's growth.
"We said not now, later. We were wrong. Eskom was right. We were wrong," Mbeki said in a rare public apology during a speech on Tuesday night.
To some the power cuts are a mere annoyance, small businesses lose money and some -- like the owner of a popular South African ice cream brand -- face financial disaster when energy giant Eskom tightens its straining energy belt.
A booming post-apartheid economy, and scant regard for energy efficiency as South Africans lavishly squander electricity at the cheapest rates in the world, are some of the reasons Huberto Stempowski now has to find another way to chill his ice-cream.
"It's a big worry. We are being forced to invest in a generator. That's a huge expense for the business," says the owner of popular Huberto's ice-cream.
But the 160,000 rand (23,000 US dollars) needed to generate his own electricity is worth it considering the 300,000 rand worth of stock he stands to lose in an extended blackout.
This week, planned power rationing in suburbs across the country has resulted in outages of up to three hours each.
Eskom has embarked on a media blitz to educate South Africans on energy efficiency, with the prospect of shortages stretching into the next decade.
With radio adverts urging office workers to switch off the lights and billboards encouraging staff to switch off their coffee-maker, Eskom has even asked that South Africans use energy efficient Christmas lights.
Eskom enterprises chief executive Brian Dames told AFP that solutions to the crisis were being pinned on new coal-fired power plants in the medium term while investigating more nuclear technology in the longer run.
"It's quite a tough task to get behaviours to change, to get people to look at energy as a precious resource," he said at the company's Johannesburg headquarters.
Bill Lacey, an economist for the South African Chamber of Commerce, warned potential investors may be put off by unreliable energy output.
"Because of the cost implications of adequate backup measures, small businesses may be the hardest hit by such disruptions."
Dames said investors would have to weigh up the risks themselves, as industrial electricity in South Africa was still the cheapest in the world.
Currently, South Africa's peak demand has reached 36,500 megawatts, while Eskom is able to supply 38,000MW, or 40,000MW with electricity imported from the Cahorra Bassa dam in neighbouring Mozambique.
South Africa aims to add another 40,000 megawatts to its power grid in the next 20 years, and at least half of that will come from nuclear technology with the rest coming from coal, and a small amount from renewables.
While South Africans may grimace at having to rein in their energy use, Richard Worthington of environmental group Earthlife Africa says it may be just what the energy inefficient country needs.
"Probably the best thing that could've happened to us is for people to experience early signs of what we will have to live with in future, an energy constrained future."
Rich in coal resources, South Africa's total electricity generating fleet is 88 percent coal-based, and is one of the worst carbon dioxide emitters worldwide.
However, much to the chagrin of environmentalists, South Africa sees a future in predominantly nuclear energy as the only sustainable option.
"We have no other big capacity options other than the coal and the nuclear and those take time," said Dames.
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