2023-07-06 10:32:15
Overnight, or almost: power cuts in South Africa have suddenly gone from twelve to two hours a day for several weeks, surprising a population whose daily life has been undermined for months by the energy crisis.
ReadIn terms of load shedding, South Africa is preparing for the worst
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa didn’t mince words before the cold weather hit the southern African country: “I’m going to be brutally honest. The winter will be incredibly difficult”.
The good weather surprise
It was without taking into account the meteorological phenomenon El Niño. According to energy experts, demand for electricity since the start of the southern winter in June has been less than feared, due to abnormally high temperatures for the period.
An increase in tariffs has also pushed companies to consume reasonably, according to specialist Tshepo Kgadima. “Even at the height of winter, demand at peak consumption is around 30,000 megawatts instead of the 37,000 megawatts planned” by the government, he explains. Experts even predict a drop to 25,000 MW in the near future, while the energy crisis had only worsened since last year. The public electricity company, Eskom, unable to produce enough, had in recent months imposed record cuts.
To ReadSouth Africa: how Jacob Zuma contributed to the destruction of Eskom
On July 5, the secretary general of the ruling ANC, Fikile Mbalula, hailed a “turnaround”, assuring that the “recovery” of Eskom will save the country “from devastating socio-economic effects linked to the shortage of energy “. A crucial issue less than a year from general elections where the ANC risks, for the first time in its history, losing its majority.
“Exorbitant prices”
At the same time, Africa’s leading industry produced more electricity. Eskom said at the end of June it had achieved an average productivity of 60% in its plants, which are mainly coal-fired.
À LireSouth Africa: the exit from coal, an endless puzzle
“Production is starting to follow demand. This is why we are starting to see that during certain periods of the day, regarding two thirds, we do not have load shedding, we are starting to balance the situation”, welcomed Minister Ramokgopa. This additional available energy is however partly produced by independent groups from which Eskom buys the production “at exorbitant prices”, more than five times higher than the cost in its power stations, underlines Fikile Kgadima.
Eskom’s production is also dependent on diesel, the price of which is constantly rising: to fill the supply gap, the company relies on emergency gas turbines that burn 14 liters of diesel per second, or 50,400 liters per hour. The company has planned an annual budget of nearly 1.5 billion euros just for the purchase of diesel.
mechanical effect
Production also benefited from a mechanical effect: traditionally during the winter, anticipating a strong surge in demand, Eskom slows down maintenance operations on the country’s 14 power plants. This year, the company kept a maximum number of units in service, reducing maintenance to 7% of the total fleet capacity, compared to an average of 13% in summer. “There is a very significant risk in not maintaining the maintenance” of the power stations, underlines the energy expert, Lungile Mashele.
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On July 4, Eskom also announced the resumption of load shedding during the day because of an “increase in failures of production units”. The looting of public coffers during the Zuma presidency (2009-2018) and the lack of maintenance of the power plants, whose average age today is 35 years, are among the main causes mentioned for the crisis of the economy. electricity in South Africa.
According to the resigning CEO of Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, corruption costs the company 55 million dollars a month. After his appointment at the end of 2019, the 55-year-old white businessman had suspended several senior officials for “misconduct” or “lack of results” and succeeded in partially reducing the colossal debt of the company, equivalent today to 23 billion dollars that the government is trying to mop up. But “as long as there is no additional production capacity, there will be an inherent risk of load shedding”, has repeatedly preached the CEO who resigned in December.
(With AFP)
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