Electricity generation stable with low risk of load shedding in S. Africa: cabinet

CAPE TOWN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Electricity generation has been stable this week with a low risk of load shedding thanks to good progress being made in acquiring sufficient coal and diesel supplies, the cabinet said on Friday.

There has also been good progress with regard to water reserves at pumped storage stations at hydro-electricity plants, the cabinet said as it concluded its program of this 5th administration before the May 8 elections.

South African will go to the polls on May 8, after which the 6th administration will be formed since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The cabinet commended the Eskom management and staff for their efforts to provide stable, consistent and reliable energy supply both to the economy and South Africans under difficult operating conditions, spokesperson Phumla Williams said.

Deputy President David Mabuza, tasked with coordinating efforts to address the power crisis, has reported to the cabinet on developments regarding Eskom and electricity constraints, Williams said.

The Technical Review Panel, appointed by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Eskom board in March 2019, will finish some of its work by early next week and will have some preliminary results from its review of Eskom power stations, according to Williams.

"This will assist Eskom and government to put in place a more rigorous program of power-plant maintenance, which will help stabilize the generation system over the next few weeks and months," she said.

Williams disclosed that further options are being considered to support the cash-strapped power utility, but she did not give details.

All South Africans should cooperate and come up with new ideas as well as energy-saving practices that were applied in the past to reduce the demand for electricity, said Williams.

These include switching off geysers, swimming pool pumps and lights that are not in use, she said.

Further progress on Eskom and electricity generation will be provided within the next week, Williams said.

South Africa experienced the most severe rolling power blackouts for 10 consecutive days earlier this month, which crippled businesses and industries, hampered transport and affected over 8 million people at any given time.

Poor management and alleged corruption at Eskom, which provides about 95 percent of electricity consumed in the country, are believed to be the major factors that have led to the power crisis.

Eskom has been accused of using load shedding to blackmail the government into helping it repay its heavy debt amounting to 420 billion rand (about 29 billion U.S. dollars) so as to prevent it from bankruptcy.

But the utility has denied the allegation, saying the recent load shedding was caused by the breakdown of several power stations.

It also says it implements load shedding as a last resort to protect the national system from a total collapse which would have significant impact on the economic development of South Africa.

South Africa has suffered from power insufficiency since 2008. Power cuts, which have cost the economy billions of dollars, again become commonplace since February this year when Eskom implemented the most extensive load shedding in recent years, plunging large parts of the country into darkness.