Load Shedding Suspended
Eskom announced last week that load shedding would be suspended for an indefinite period.
Eskom Chief Executive Jacob Maroga said in a statement: "There is evidence of increased energy savings from municipalities and we are optimistic that further reductions to reach our 10% savings target are possible.
"A task team of senior Eskom executives and top officials of municipalities from around South Africa will meet soon to discuss the way forward in driving further energy savings."
According to Maroga, recent savings, particularly from industry, had shown that it should be possible to achieve the 10 percent saving that was needed through a "concerted and committed effort" by everyone.
"However, should the national grid come under unexpected pressure, there may be occasions where brief periods of load shedding could be required."
It was reported recently that surges in the grid as a result of load shedding had caused a substation in Port Elizabeth to explode. Another in Kempton Park had caught fire after power cuts, leaving the town without electricity.
According to a News24 report, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality said oil-based circuit breakers at the
substation exploded, causing damage estimated at millions of Rand. A municipal worker was quoted as saying that ageing infrastructure at electricity substations around the country were "ticking bombs". Circuit breakers had not been designed to be switched on and off at regular intervals as had been done during load shedding.
Charles Kadalie, manager for public lighting for the city of Cape Town, told News24 that the problem had been a long time coming. An explosion in 2007 in one of the city’s substations had happened while there had been five of the staff members in the substation when it had exploded. One had died and three had been critically injured.
Along with ageing equipment, the "abnormal" situation of load shedding was putting extreme strain on infrastructure generally, according to Kadalie.
Kadalie listed underground cables, transformers, and oil circuit breakers as things that would take strain with increased pressure from load shedding. "The insulation goes, gasses are being formed in your oil circuit breakers and your transformers and before it settles, you're switching it back on again."
