It will take two weeks for the South African power system to recover if there was a total nationwide blackout, Eskom said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“The entire country’s blackout recovery time is two weeks, assuming that everything goes smoothly,” Eskom group executive for sustainability Steve Lennon told reporters in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
He said if the country had to experience a complete blackout, consequences would be severe in every sector.<\/p>\n
“We are not ready for that at all. We also have to prepare for blackouts because if we don’t, the consequences will be severe.”<\/p>\n
Other countries are able to tap into the power system from a neighbouring country, when they experienced a complete blackout, he said.<\/p>\n
“For South Africa we do not have that luxury and we would have to rely on our own blackstart plant to start the system from scratch.”<\/p>\n
Eskom’s national control manager Al’Louise van Deventer said the county’s power system currently remained tight but manageable.<\/p>\n
“As winter is not entirely over we are still experiencing high demand, especially between 5.30pm to 6.30pm.”<\/p>\n
“The power system is tight and it will be for some time. We need to make sure we manage it well.”<\/p>\n
Blackouts were initiated to avoid a system collapse where the entire country would be without electricity.<\/p>\n
Deventer said the parastatal communicated with consumers when any planned power cuts were anticipated due to high demand.<\/p>\n
The demand came from industrial, commercial, and residential users.<\/p>\n
“We initiate blackouts when the power is in demand and we don’t have means to generate more.”<\/p>\n
Eskom had other sources of power that are used when the power demand increases.<\/p>\n
Deventer said Eskom had Open Cycle Gas Turbines power stations. They were used to provide power when the system was too constrained or during peak hours.<\/p>\n
“These are mainly used during peak times when we require additional supply because there is too much demand.”<\/p>\n
There was also renewable generation that provided power from the sun, wind and biomass.<\/p>\n
“We are unable to rely on them during peak hours as their output is not reliable.”<\/p>\n
The parastatal also received power from independent producers that contributed to the total generation mix in times of constraints.<\/p>\n
When all means were exhausted and the system remained tight a decision to implement rotational power cuts was made and consumers were informed in advance.<\/p>\n
She said user demands could be accurately predicted based on historical behaviour.<\/p>\n
“But the prediction can be upset by weather and sudden socio-economical events such as severe cold fronts, sports events or industrial strikes.”<\/p>\n
Users were urged to co-operate when asked to reduce power usage because that would prevent power cuts.<\/p>\n
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