03/10/2006
In la-la land (aka MoM&E)
Okay here we have another “I’m sorry what did you say?” moment concerning SA's electricity crises. This moment of madness comes to us compliments of our Minister of Minerals and Energy Lindiwe Hendricks, who, when asked by a reporter whether South Africa could meet its ever rising power demands replied that (wait for it) South Africa was not in fact running out of power. Really? Well that is news to me. I mean why would we be desperately trying to restore the Grootvlei and Komati powerstations or build two new gas turbine stations at Atlantis and Mossel Bay if this was the case? The Minister explained that the problem was in fact :
"What we experienced is a problem of a particular typeI...If there is a problem at Koeberg, the transmission of power from Mpumalanga and Gauteng is not sufficient to feed the large electricity demand in the Western Cape"
Surely if this was the case then all that would be required would be to upgrade the transmission lines to the Western Cape? No, I think the Minister is engaging in a game of spin with the local Press and knows full well that it’s not simply a case of “logistics”. Here’s a quote to guide the Minister in the right direction:
"Demand for electricity in Africa's largest economy is expected to outstrip supply in 2007."
07:05 Posted in Science | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: South Africa
Comments
As I understand it the transmission lines from Mpumalanga can't carry the required amount of electricity to the Western Cape, and plans are underfoot to make them stronger. The bad news is that this will be an lengthy process, only to be completed in (groan) winter 2007.
Posted by: hex | 03/10/2006
I think what got to me most was that the Minister was trying to make out that everything was just fine with SA's power supply when it's obvious that that's far from being true. For the past 2 months we've been bombarded by the spinmerchants at Eskom/government explaining to us how "demand has grown faster than expected" and that's the reason why we've been having the problems. So for the Minister to cruise in and say "No-no it's actually a logistical problem and our power supply is quite adequate" makes me wonder if anyone actually knows what's going on?
PS- any idea where you read that powerline story, would like to add it as an Update to the post.
Posted by: someamongus | 03/11/2006
The "powerline story" has been all over the news for some time now, and certainly here in the Western Cape, but 'fraid I can't give you a particular source. However, today's Weekend Argus carried this tidbit under the headline "Eskom to hike rates":
"Minerals and Energy Minister Lindiwe Hendricks said in a written reply to a parliamentary question yesterday that Eskom had embarked on an R84 billion capital expenditure infrastructure plan over the next five years to address the electricity needs of South Africa. Hendricks said that the department had also embarked on an initiative to bring in additional power through independent power producers.
'Although South Africa has adequate coal reserves, it is important that fuel sources be diversified. Therefore, various fuel sources will be considered, including the use of combined cycle gas turbines, nuclear, renewables such as solar and wind power, as well as additional hydro imports from neighbouring countries.'"
Posted by: hex | 03/11/2006
Thanks for the info hex!
Posted by: someamongus | 03/12/2006
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