Posts Tagged ‘Eskom’

Johannesburg – Nersa’s decision to grant Eskom a 27.5 percent tariff increase is a “watershed” moment, the power utility said in Midrand on Thursday.

“It is bold, courageous and it’s very responsible,” said Eskom chief executive Jacob Maroga.

Maroga said the decision gave a clear message about where the energy regulator believed tariffs should go in the future.

In particular the regulator’s acknowledgement, if current assumptions remained, that a 20% to 25% tariff increase could be on the cards in the next three years was welcomed by Maroga.

On not getting the requested 53% increase, Maroga said: “It’s not about a single number”.

What was more important was to see that the regulator could be flexible and proactive about variations in the situation.

Eskom would be spending R343 billion over the next five years and about R1.3 trillion by 2025 in capital expansion programmes, said Maroga.

- Sapa

News 24

Eskom: No repeat of Jan 2008
Jan 11 2009 09:48

Johannesburg – South African utility Eskom, which is emerging from one of its busiest maintenance period ever, said it was ready to face rising demand after the festive season and avoid last January’s crippling power crisis.

Eskom’s maintenance peaked during December and the first week of January with up to 9 000 megawatts (MW) out of service, spokesperson Fani Zulu told Reuters late on Thursday.

“We are reducing the amount of maintenance now to cater for the demand slowly increasing … now we are close to 5 800 megawatts of planned maintenance going on,” Zulu said.

State-owned Eskom, which provides 95% of the country’s power, saw a near-collapse of its national grid in January last year, forcing mines and smelters to shut down for days, and costing Africa’s biggest economy billions of dollars.

Eskom has since rationed electricity and urged big consumers to save energy to ease the shortage, which critics says was caused by a lack of investment in new generation capacity.

Zulu said demand for power fell by as much as 1 500 MW late last year after smelters shut down furnaces on the back of the global economic slowdown, which cut demand for metals.

It gave Eskom a breathing space, but did not entirely erase the risk of power cuts with the reserve margin being low.

“Load shedding (power cuts) is always a possibility and that is a direct result of a low reserve margin,” he said.

The margin or spare capacity was at 8%, far from the utility’s target of 15%.

Stockpiles

To secure power supplies, Eskom, which relies on coal for most of its power generation, bought some 2 million tonnes of export-grade coal in 2008 to boost its stockpiles, which had fallen to dangerously low levels last year.

“Coal stocks are healthy now at just above 37 days,” Zulu said.

To avoid power cuts, the utility said consumption would need to drop by 10 percent. It has seen a drop of 5 percent so far.

“The bulk of that came from industrial customers, largely the mines … there is a lot of room to do some more work in the commercial and residential sectors,” Zulu said.

South Africa’ power regulator (NERSA) laid out new proposals to conserve power, under which users will have to pay a charge in addition to regular tariffs if they exceed prescribed limits.

Eskom has said it plans to spend a total of about R343bn over five years on new capacity, with assistance from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the government and its own tariff increases.

Zulu said Eskom would submit the application for the tariff increase in the next couple of weeks.

“We need to look at the impact of the crisis on Eskom, its new build programme and what it means in terms of the long-term demand prospects – we need to review all these before we can submit the application.”

The power regulator last June approved a total 27% tariff hike, short of a 53% hike requested by Eskom.

- Reuters

Every now and then millions of South Africans prepare to traverse the length and breadth of the globe to visit friends and family, or for a much deserved holiday away from home.

What this means is that many homes will be left vacant as families swap them for holiday cottages, apartments and hotels elsewhere. If you are going to be leaving your home on standby for the holidays, remember your obligation to conserve electricity and switch off non-essential power guzzlers before you go away.

Eskom offers the following helpful energy conservation tips for the holidays:

Start planning a few weeks ahead of your holiday…

• Start using up the meat and other perishables in your fridge and freezer rather than keeping it fully stocked. The bigger
  the load in your fridge and freezer, the harder it needs to work to keep the contents at the desired temperature and the more electricity it consumes.
• Replace conventional outdoor lights with motion sensor lamps for security. Motion sensor lights use less electricity because they only switch on when the sensor is triggered.
• Install them strategically around your garden and on your perimeter wall to ensure that your property is well lit, even though you aren’t going to be home to switch on lights.
• To make it appear as though you are still at home, enlist the help of a trustworthy neighbour or friend to switch on one or two inside lights at night while you are away instead of leaving lights to burn in an empty house for the duration of your holiday.
• Fix leaky taps. Allowing water, especially hot water, to drip is literally money going down the drain.
• Unplug appliances such as computers and coffee machines. Appliances still draw a small amount of energy when they are plugged in – even if they are not switched on.
• Make sure the backup batteries on your electric fencing and intruder detection systems are in good working order. Replace them if necessary, to ensure that your security systems will still operate if there is a power outage.

The day before you depart…

• Empty your fridge and freezer, switch them off and allow them to defrost. That way they will not use any electricity while you are away.
• Turn off your geyser. This will ensure that it won’t draw electricity to unnecessarily keep your water hot.
• Switch off all power outlets and unplug all appliances.
• Switch off your oven.
• If you have a pool cover, use it. It will help keep your pool clean while you are gone.
• Switch off your air conditioning and fans.
• Switch off the water and power supply to water features and fountains in your garden.

Once at your holiday destination, employ the same energy saving tactics that you would in your own home…

• Switch off appliances that are not being used.
• Don’t leave lights on in unoccupied rooms.
• Only use the air conditioner when it is really necessary.
• Open windows and doors to allow cool, fresh air from outside to flow into the house.
• Take a shower instead of having a bath because you will use less water.
• Enjoy being outside; cook your food on the braai and eat your meals el fresco on the patio, before the sun sets.
• Don’t open the fridge or freezer unnecessarily or leave the door open too long as this allows cold air to escape and warm air in, causing them to use more power to maintain the correct temperature.
• Don’t use hot water for tasks that can be accomplished with cold water such as rinsing vegetables and dishes.
• Don’t leave taps running.

Brought to you by ESKOM