Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

      20 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Sita hits back at critics, promises faster, automated procurement

      20 June 2025

      The transatlantic race to create the first television

      20 June 2025

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Energy and sustainability » Load shedding on track for worst year ever

    Load shedding on track for worst year ever

    By Staff Reporter5 August 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    South Africa experienced 650 hours of load shedding in the first half of 2021 (15% of the time), shedding an estimated 963GWh of estimated energy, according to a new report from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

    Shockingly, this is 76% of the total load shedding experienced in the whole of last year, suggesting that unless Eskom is able drastically to reduce the unplanned rolling blackouts in the second half of 2021, this year will have a marked deterioration in energy availability compared to any previous year.

    In a detailed report entitled “Statistics of utility-scale power generation in South Africa” and released on Thursday, the CSIR showed that system demand increased by 5% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period a year ago, although this was still 2.2% lower than the first half of 2019.

    Coal continues to dominate the South African energy mix, contributing 81.8% to the national energy mix in the first half of 2021

    “Coal continues to dominate the South African energy mix, contributing 81.8% in the first half of 2021 as an additional coal unit at the Kusile power station entered into commercial operation. The contribution from renewable energy sources totalled almost 11% (solar PV, wind, hydro, concentrating solar power and others), while zero-carbon energy sources contributed 14.3% (renewables and nuclear),” the report said.

    Declining EAF

    On the increased load shedding so far this year, the CSIR said this was “driven by a declining ‘energy availability factor’ (EAF) of the existing coal fleet, where overall the EAF was 61.3% for the first half of 2021 relative to 65% in 2020 and 66.9% in 2019”.

    Source: CSIR
    Source: CSIR

    “A concerning shift of the unplanned outage component of the EAF has also been highlighted where unplanned outages of up to 15.3GW were experienced and were greater than 10GW for more than 80% of the first half of 2021.” – © 2021 NewsCentral Media

    Now read: Eskom lays out plan to kick its coal habit



    CSIR Eskom top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleApple to scan users’ iPhones for child abuse images: FT
    Next Article In a world first, SA grants a patent listing an AI as the inventor

    Related Posts

    World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

    20 June 2025

    The little-known company disrupting Eskom’s monopoly

    16 June 2025

    Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

    13 June 2025
    Company News

    Making IT happen: how Trade Link gears up to enable SA retail strategies

    20 June 2025

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.