Load-shedding is back after a break over the festive season. Picture: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers
SMALL businesses could not have prepared for the impact of load shedding which was suddenly thrust upon them at the weekend, resulting in several hours of business lost as many had to close early.
Eskom had on Friday suddenly announced that it had to implement load shedding again, following over 10 months of “uninterrupted electricity supply”, after it “encountered a temporary setback”.
“Over the past seven days, we have experienced several breakdowns that require extended repair times. This has necessitated the use of all our emergency reserves, which now need to be replenished over the weekend,” said Eskom group chief executive, Dan Marokane.
As a result, Stage 3 loadshedding was implemented until Sunday.
The sudden move left many unprepared to respond to it.
Matzikama Black Business Alliance chairperson Sylvester Coetzee said: “It definitely had a negative effect, it put people out of rhythm. People were still a bit unsure on Friday as they said maybe it can be (loadshedding) maybe not. It had a bad impact especially on small business because they had to close earlier, they had no generators.”
He said Eskom's communication was not sufficient for them to come up with plans, as many people did not have internet connection.
“All of the people were not lucky to have an internet connection, it became problematic. If it was something that happened out of Eskom’s control that happened suddenly, I understand. But also you have to work through your local government. They are closest to the people, as soon as it comes out. Communication must not only come from Eskom in terms of cooperative governance it has to be spread widely so people can be prepared. Residents phoned me to ask if I don't have candles. People were satisfied with no loadshedding for so long, they just weren't prepared. Communication had to be enhanced to work closely with the spheres of government nearest to the people, so the communication can be received by all, especially those most vulnerable,” Coetzee said.
Energy analyst, Hugo Kruger said the operator might not have the knowledge at his disposal to make the right decision when something out of the norm occurs.
“As far as I can tell several units tripped at once, it's not exactly clear why, but I suspect that it is an operator issue. The operator might not have the knowledge at his disposal to make the right decision when something out of the normal occurs, that's my theory. The other issue is that Eskom said they ran out of reserves, in other words our safety margin isn't sufficient,” he said.
Meanwhile Eskom yesterday said the situation was back to normal, due to the “recovery of sufficient emergency reserves”.
“This past Friday, Eskom announced that it had encountered several breakdowns over the past week, necessitating extended repair times and the full use of its emergency reserves. As promised, Eskom has since replenished these reserves, with dam levels fully replenished and open-cycle gas turbines adequately recovered, ensuring a stable supply. Additionally, five coal-fired generation units have been successfully repaired and returned to service, adding a total of 2 930MW to the grid. An additional 2 391MW is expected to be restored Sunday. With loadshedding largely behind us, the structural improvements and efficiency gains we have made in our coal-fired generation fleet are secure, along with the over R16.30 billion saved in diesel costs from April 1, 2024, to January 30, 2025.”
Eskom said its Summer Outlook, published on August 26, 2024, remained unchanged.
“Currently, unplanned outages stand at 13 279MW and continue to trend downward, averaging 12 087MW. Planned maintenance outages account for 6 298MW and are aligned with our summer maintenance strategy to further improve reliability in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond. With available capacity of 27 957MW and the evening’s peak demand forecast of 24 456MW, Eskom will meet electricity demand,” the power utility added.
Cape Times
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