SOUTH AFRICA:South Africa's state power utility Eskom is considering electricity rationing to ease a supply crunch that has led to frequent power cuts in recent weeks, and a nationwide outcry, a senior company official said yesterday, writes Stella Mapenzauswain Johannesburg.
Eskom's chief executive Jacob Maroga also said the firm had contractual agreements to supply power to neighbouring countries but had the leeway to cut back on exports to give the domestic market priority supply.
South African industries and residential areas have been hit by daily power cuts lasting at least two hours per day as Eskom's systems and equipment fail to cope with growing demand in Africa's largest economy.
"We have run out of reserve capacity in South Africa and having run out of reserve capacity the power system is very vulnerable," Mr Maroga told journalists after meeting company executives.
"The biggest lever we can pull is reducing demand, and the discussion this morning with the key customers is around how we collaborate in the reduction of demand."
The company was working on a framework to introduce electricity rationing as part of short-term measures to reduce daily power demand by up 20 per cent.
"The principle of rationing is that each customer across the board has a quota of what is available . . . If you consume above that quota, there is a serious financial implication," he said.
"The aspiration for me is 20 per cent [ reduction in daily demand] but anything between 10 and 20 per cent is something that we need to aspire to."
Mr Maroga said South Africa was importing electricity from Mozambique, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and was also working at bringing back into operation three power stations shut down in the 1980s.
Zimbabwe has also suffered worsening power cuts this year, but Mr Maroga dismissed suggestions that Eskom had cut power supplies to its crisis-ridden northern neighbour.
Eskom plans to spend 300 billion rand (€29.7 billion) to boost power capacity over the next five years but South Africans plagued by regular power cuts are losing patience. Local media reported at the weekend that angry commuters torched trains at four stations after being kept waiting for transport for two hours due to a power cut. - (Reuters)