South Africa’s state-owned power utility, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., will cut 5,000 megawatts from the national grid until further notice.
(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s state-owned power utility, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., will cut 5,000 megawatts from the national grid until further notice.
Eskom will continue to implement so-called level 5 loadshedding because of higher than anticipated demand, it said on Twitter. The utility’s previous plan was to trim power cuts to 3,000 megawatts from 5 a.m. on Wednesday.
South Africa has endured more than 100 days of rotational blackouts this year as Eskom struggles to meet demand with its aging coal-fired power plants that regularly break down.
Restoring Power Pylons in Capital May Take Five Days (April 12, 8 a.m.)
It may take as long as five days to repair and install new power pylons that supply parts of South Africa’s capital, Beeld reported, citing Eskom’s acting spokeswoman, Daphne Mokwena.
Seven high-tension electricity towers in the northeast of Tshwane municipality, which includes the capital, Pretoria, collapsed at the weekend, cutting power supplies to the area. That included Silverton, where Ford Motor Co. has a 720-vehicle-a-day assembly plant. The factory has already lost a full day of production, Fin24 reported, citing Neale Hill, president of Ford Africa.
Theft and vandalism often hamper power supply in South Africa as criminals target electricity infrastructure.
Above-Inflation Demands for Wage Hikes (April 11, 9:59 a.m.)
The Solidarity labor union is demanding inflation-beating pay increases for its members who work at Eskom.
Solidarity wants a raise of the average inflation rate plus 3 percentage points for all workers, it said in an emailed copy of demands seen by Bloomberg. The union’s mandate is to negotiate a multi-year agreement. Average consumer-price growth in South Africa was 6.9% last year.
Eskom agreed to a 7% wage increase for workers last year after illegal protests, in which roads to power plants were blocked, cars were set on fire and gasoline bombs were thrown at company managers’ homes.
Electricity Minister Calls for More State Funding (April 6, 4 p.m.)
South Africa’s electricity minister called for more state funding and exemptions on emissions limits at coal-fired power plants to help ease the nation’s energy crisis.
The measures are among a raft of proposals Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will submit to the cabinet this month. Eskom doesn’t have the money to invest in its capital equipment, and so it will have to seek funding elsewhere, he told reporters Thursday in Pretoria.
–With assistance from Paul Burkhardt.
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