Eskom for those of you that don't know is our government run SOE electricity supplier. For the last 15 years we have been experiencing power interruptions commonly known as load shedding. Things have deteriorated gradually over time with the problem now way out of control.
Just like South African Airways who were way overstaffed so much so they had the equivalent for 1 staff member for ever 10 passengers. Gold status is 1 staff member for ever 100 and one of the reasons why the airline couldn't be profitable. The work was being done by the employees that had been replaced and fired then being bought back into play as freelance employees. Most jobs had 2 or 3 people doing the same work, but only one was physically doing the work. I saw this first hand while negotiating a business deal as I never met the person who made the final decision. The person I was dealing with had been working that position for over 10 years and was the front man protecting the other managers with the same job title. Confusing perhaps, but expected as that is what the civil service is like here as no one is accountable.
As you can see from the graph the hours are increasing without having a break. In the past we would get it for a week or two at the most then have a break before it resumed again. This is now 3 weeks on the trot and there is no letting up.
The key take from this is the not so positive word "indefinitely" and sounds as though this is more permanent than temporary. These actions have serious consequences as the country is not investable until there is sufficient power. This according to estimates is more than likely only going to happen in 2026 or 2027. The reason for the known time factor is even if they had the finances from various sources including the World Bank it would take that long to fix. Conversions need to happen to make the power stations more efficient and also have filters in place for the carbon emissions targets they have agreed to.
From my understanding reading between the lines having agreed these carbon emissions whilst nothing has been done. Were they hoping for someone to do this for them or sponsor them? They signed the Paris agreement in September last year which tells me they had no intention of fixing the load shedding issue as they cannot as the upgrades need to happen first.
It is a shame really that no one can tell the truth anymore and you have to work it out for yourself. Tonight our area is on the 6pm -8pm slot and many of the fast food outlets are closed. Businesses need to start adapting as can you carry on by closing your doors for 4 hours per day during working hours? This is what many are doing and my thought is the onus should be on the shopping center to provide back up power or find a center that will provide this service.
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I think the general rule of thumb I've heard is that Eskom employs about twice as many people as the early 90s, but doesn't make any more power at all?
I do think loadshedding will still take years to solve. I think there is also concern about how bad loadshedding needs to get before the grid cannot cope and we get total blackout... And then how long it takes to get the grid back up and running again...
This happened tonight as each time the switch on is a lottery and the number of areas who are not immediately back up and running is quite alarming. We are just on 5 hours and hope we have power back by morning.
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Man, they really need to get some small modular nuclear reactors up and running over there. It could be game changing. If I were a billionaire I'd start my own energy company for you.
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They would not allow it as they want to make the money. Others have tried and it is a no go. Tonight we have been off since 6pm so it will be a very long one as nearly 5 hours already and they cannot get it back on.
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Yikes!
Is anything being done to maintain and then update the ageing infrastructure?
Why has it bee allowed to get to this point??
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They are trying to maintain it as upgrades will only happen with more funding. They need $5 billion which they don't have and even if they did would take 3-5 years to complete. Corruption, incompetency is why we are where we are. Friends in positions they were not qualified to be in. This is like putting a bus driver in charge of a nuclear plant.
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I feel for you and we are all in the dang! The powerstations are old and they were not designed for regular switch offs, so every time that they are switched on again there is a risk of something popping out. Same thing with the substations and every now and then, a transformer simply explodes.
Then again with all of the cable thefts life is not easy for anyone and I feel that we are on a way road to who knows.
!BEER
Sadly that is the reality and know so many people who aren't as fortunate to have a noisy generator like we do. Hate to live without one right now as we have crossed over the 5 hour mark and still nothing. I will turn off shortly as don't want to be spending R100's every day and have a strict budget I stick to for this. I would hate to be living outside the wire as you would be a sitting duck for crime. I would be back on guard duty like the old days again and why we moved inside a gated community. you stay well and lets hope this can be improved upon as I don't expect a miracle fix.
I heard a talk on the radio that some guy converted a generator to run silently on gas. Didn't have time to Google it yet, as there were no contact details after the interview, but it sounds very plausible.
Yep, petrol is very costly and I cannot even think about getting one. But maybe gas could be the answer.
Getting worse by the day and not if but when crime appears in one's life nowadays.
I had a quick look now at the gas conversion and they replace the carburetor with a kit. They reckon that one can save 50% on petrol.
Have a look at this. https://www.salpgcarburetor.com
I see that a dual fuel carburetor kit is also on sale at Gumtree. Prices under ZAR2000.
Thank you and you also take care.
!BEER
Thanks. I will take a look at this.
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Been off twice today and now again from 8pm. But I will be back at 10:30 to catch up on all of the replies and my voting.
I really think that gas might be able to help in your situation.
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