The conventional wisdom is that a major restructuring of Eskom will address the crisis facing that state-owned utility and the country. But this is misleading.
Browsing: Eskom
One of South Africa’s newest power plants, designed to supply the grid during peak-use periods, is defective and has been limited to operate at lower capacity.
The cost of off-grid solar installations has decreased significantly over the last 10 years, with the prices of some components falling nearly 70%, prompting more South Africans to consider ditching Eskom entirely.
Eskom said on Sunday evening that it is unlikely to implement rolling blackouts this week thanks to an improvement in plant performance.
A decision to stop a boiler-monitoring software contract worth R275-million between Eskom and Carab Technologies may have contributed to the rolling blackouts that are hobbling the nation, City Press reported.
View the latest contribution from TechCentral cartoonist Jerm.
Eskom has reduced the intensity of rotating power cuts on Friday – South Africa’s ninth straight day of scheduled blackouts – after imports from Mozambique were partially restored.
In times of crisis – especially with questionable crisis communication from government and Eskom over the past week – humans tend to create their own “reality”, whether grounded in fact or not.
South Africans face another day of traffic snarl-ups and disrupted business with no end in sight for rolling power cuts that started a week ago.
Damage caused by Cyclone Idai to pylons in Mozambique that carry power to neighbouring countries may take weeks to repair, a state power company official said.