Overview of Electrical Industry in SA
South Africa has a population of 44 million people which obtains it’s electrical power from Eskom
Eskom Holdings Inc is a state owned power utility company that is struggling with the lack of planning and legacy of apartheid, during the years under aparthied, the white communities were guaranteed power, meanwhile the black townships were kept in the dark.
See article in Washington Post by Craig Timberg, January 20, 2008
Facts:
- Between 1997-2005 demand rose by 30%
- 2/3rd of South Africans have access to electricity, double 1994 levels
- It is predicted that supply shortages will last for 5 to 7 more years as new coal fired plants are brought on board
Frequency of Blackouts
- Longer term blackouts will leave lights out several times per week for hours on end
- Shorter term blackouts are more frequent almost every single day
Impacts
- Domestic traffic distruptions due to traffic lights stop working
- Stoppage of factory production lines, result in factories becoming idle
- Refrigeration and freezers without power result in spoilage of food in supermarkets
- Shipping is halted from Durham which handles 2.4 million foot containers to the southern African countries
- Gold production directly impacted in 2008 with a decrease in production by 14%
- Security concerns with stoppage of CCTV etc
See
BBC
Lights out on South Africa Boom
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7339213.stm
See attached articles in MS Word format
