S Africa set for month of blackouts

[bemildred]

Source: al Jazeera

South Africa's parliament is set to hold an emergency session as people prepare for a month of blackouts due to severe power shortages.

The energy crisis, which analysts fear could severely damage the economy, has prompted opposition parties to threaten to bring a motion of no confidence against Thabo Mbeki, the country's president.

"Prepare yourself for four weeks of hell" the headline in one South African newspaper read on Wednesday.

Eskom, the country's largest electricity producer, is cutting electrictiy supplies by 4,000 megawatts for four weeks in an attempt to stabilise the power grid.



Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6C1C2757-6F49-4A3B-B108-126CD3224298.htm

[Demeter]

1. Sounds Like an Opening for Photovoltaics

Distributed and dedicated private power generation--only way to go.

[bemildred]

2. And a recipe for riots. nt

[Ezana]

3. South Africa is going downward

South Africa´s Affirmative Action policy has caused the quality of service in the country to deteriorate. For the power company to experience such shortage of Wattage there must have been negligence in PLANNING the future need of the country. I have seen for myself how desperate things there in South Africa are getting.

Three monthes ago, I passed a couple of nights as a transit passanger at Johannesburg International Airport. I was surprised to see how unsafe the transit area was during the night. At the transit area, late at night, some civil-clothed shady characters demand transitees´ passport saying that they were police men; a couple of times I spotted guys following me to the toilet. I was scared and had decided to wait till morning before I went to the toilet.

At night, all transitees stay together at the second floor area due to fear. All this while there are CCTV Cameras everywhere.

It is a shame for South Africa. I do not believe that South Africa´s future is bright.

[HamdenRice]

8. Pure propoganda bullshit

I have been traveling to South Africa since the mid 80s. The transformation has been remarkable. Only an idiot would think that the fascism, corruption, discrimination, systematic underdevelopment, enforced poverty and wars of the apartheid era were better than what's going on now.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. The change is remarkable

but those who remain poor are now lashing out at the Mandela\Mbeki\Manuel politics and nothing good is going to come of Jacob Zuma.

[Taverner]

17. An idiot...or a freeper troll

Some say they're the same thing

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. just wait for Jacob Zuma!

After he was elected ANC leader a Thembu friend of mine in Cape Town sent a one sentance message "I guess were going to find out if there is something worse than apartheid"

[AndyTiedye]

4. With Gold at an All-Time High They Ought to be Able to Buy Enough Fuel to Keep their Grid Up

[bemildred]

5. Says they want to "stabilize their power grid".

I interpret that to mean this is not just a matter of lack of fuel.

[NickB79]

14. Electricity demand outpaced generator capability

In short, they didn't build enough power plants fast enough. South Africa has massive coal reserves, so fuel availability didn't initiate this disruption. Now, though, the coal mines have to be closed due to lack of electricity, which means less coal being mined, and we might start to see fuel shortages.

[sutz12]

6. Why does this smell like Enron, South Africa style? nt

:shrug:

[Tight_rope]

7. Glad someone is also smelling the Enron like stinch too.

[HamdenRice]

9. This is because of unprecedented growth -- in a way a good sign

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has extended electricity to the townships. In the past, people warmed their homes with smokey coal fires, which meant that the townships were constantly blanketed in smog, causing massive respiratory illness and death.

Black consumers now have access to clean electric power. Moreover, the country is experiencing rapid economic growth -- more rapid than Eskom planned for.

In a perverse way, this is a good sign about Africa's largest, most sophisticated, and increasingly middle class economy. The crucial sentence in the story is:

"We have been growing much more than we had anticipated. This growth in our economy is unprecedented in our country and as a result it has really affected an impacted our reserve margin," Buyelwa Patience Sonjica said.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. and because they export electricity they are never paid for

which I believe they are only now curtailing.

[NickB79]

15. "Clean" electric power

That electricity is generated by coal-fired plants, which are still destroying the planet's ecosystem. It's better than burning coal in your own home to cook food, until global warming causes food shortages and you have no food to cook.

[HamdenRice]

16. It's a net reduction in pollution and greenhouse gases

Coal fired power plants (South Africa has huge coal reserves) do pollute and emit greenhouse gases. But by concentrating the power generation in plants that are more efficient than open fire home braziers, there is a net reduction in pollution and greenhouse gases by putting people on the grid. Moreover, by concentrating the burning in one place it is possible to implement scrubbers and other point source pollution reduction strategies.

As we type on our electric powered computers and internet, listen to cds and watch dvds, and generally wastefully consume more electricity than any population on earth, we are hardly in a position to tell South Africa's black population they should not be allowed to get on the electrical grid for heating and cooking.

[FarrenH]

13. Its due to several failures of leadership

combined with a foolish energy policy. The roots of this problem are similar to those that brought about California's problems, but not the same. Privatisation (of some functions, the parastatal ESKOM still has a monopoly on disttribution and sale to end user) and budget reduction play a role.

I've blogged about it here: http://myxomycota.blogspot.com/

Another South African view here: http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/stevenfriedman/2008/01/21/eskom-zuma-and-some-peoples-nightmares/