An acceleration in economic growth in South Africa could trigger power cuts, with state utility Eskom’s fragile generation system unable to respond to increased demand for electricity.<\/p>\n
The energy availability of Eskom\u2019s generation fleet is supposed to be as high as 80%, but is currently as low as 69%, and even a 0.1% rise in gross domestic product could result in outages, Nelisiwe Magubane, an Eskom board member, said at an event organised by Afriforesight in Johannesburg on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The state-owned utility, which supplies about 95% of South Africa\u2019s power, has a mountain of debt and is reliant on government bailouts to remain solvent.<\/p>\n
It is also contending with operational issues – most of its power stations are nearing retirement age and haven\u2019t been properly maintained, while the construction of two new plants are running years behind schedule and way over budget.<\/p>\n
The country has experienced intermittent power outages – known locally as load shedding – since late 2005, a measure Eskom said was needed to prevent the national grid from collapsing.<\/p>\n
Outages have eased over recent months largely due to the poor performance of the economy – gross domestic product slumped an annualised 3.2% in the first quarter, the biggest contraction in a decade.<\/p>\n
“We haven\u2019t seen load shedding because demand is going south,\u201d said Mike Rossouw, an independent energy adviser. \u201cIf demand picks up tomorrow you will be seeing load shedding every day.”<\/p>\n