THE THIRST FOR POWER
The story behind South Africa's electric and water shortage.
LOAD SHEDDING
Load Shedding is the intentional disruption of electrical power supply. South Africa is one of the cheapest power producers in the world, which is why it supplies power to many other countries. However, helping other countries does not benefit the citizens of South Africa because it deprives their own country of having sufficient power.
Before Load Shedding
The city of Cape Town at night before Load Shedding
After Load Shedding
When load shedding occurs, only the houses and businesses with generators or inverters are able to have electricity, while everywhere else, including traffic lights, are kept in the dark.
ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
Cape Town’s electricity generation is heavily dependent on coal because of its availability and affordability. The environmental factors of burning coal are not under consideration, so this together with the abundance of coal has resulted in electricity in South Africa being amongst the cheapest in the world. However, the energy use is inefficient, which lowers the value added to the economy per unit of energy compared to many other countries. South Africa has one main energy provider, Eskom, which is the 7th largest electricity generator in the world. Eskom is responsible for supplying 95% of electricity in South Africa. This state-owned power utility has been plagued with failing equipment due to poor maintenance for the past 15 years, resulting in frequent periods of load shedding as generation units break down or are taken off the grid for maintenance.
LOAD SHEDDING SCHEDULE
This is what the average schedule looks like for citizens to be informed on when and for how long the power will go out. The colors correspond to the different towns within Cape Town (key at the top), and the numbers correspond to the level of power outages. Stage 1 is the least serious, while stage 8 is the most serious.
COMBAT METHODS
INVERTER/GENERATOR
An inverter can automatically adjust the amount of energy needed and does so by electronically throttling the engine up and down to meet the demand. Compared to a generator, an inverter is lighter, smaller, quieter, and it generates lower emissions. Generators also only produce AC electricity, while inverters produce electricity in three different phases.
GOING SOLAR
People who no longer want to depend on Cape Town's power system, can opt to go "off the grid" and use solar panels to supply electricity. However, this is very expensive to install, so it is hard for many to obtain, especially those who live in the townships. Electricity becomes more expensive because of the shortage, so not being reliant on the city's system means no additional costs.
ESKOM REPAIRS
This is a letter that Eskom sent to consumers to inform them of the good news. Recent efforts by Eskom to repair generation units have led to some one day suspensions in load shedding. However, they key word is "one day" because load shedding has not completely come to an end since no practical and long term solution has come to fruition. This issue proves to be more challenging for business/manufacture workers because how and when they do their job is based around the load shedding schedule.
EFFECT ON TOURISM
Big retailers, restaurants, and grocery stores have generators, so during power outages, people can still shop and dine. However, a lot of the small stores around the country do not have generators, so when the electricity goes off, those stores are not accessible.