Tag: Eskom

Eskom has run a successful pilot of virtual wheeling, which will enable companies with multiple offtake sites to connect to generators using the Eskom or municipal grids. Electricity wheeling mechanisms play a key role in facilitating the optimal integration of renewable energy resources into the grid.

The 2023 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) was tabled to Parliament on 1 November 2023 by South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

Eskom cannot be trusted with load-limiting, as the same kind of centralisation is what caused the energy crisis in the first place. We will publish a research paper on privatisation later this year, that will set out how best to go about the privatisation of Eskom. This comes as the embattled state-owned enterprise seems to be fumbling from one bad idea to the next as it tries to stabilise power supply.

This riveting study shows how the intersection of technology and politics has shaped South African history since the 1960s. It is impossible to understand South Africa’s energy crisis without knowing this history.

When André de Ruyter took over as Eskom CEO in January 2020, he quickly realised why it was considered the toughest job in South Africa. Aside from neglected equipment, ageing power stations and an eroded skills base, he discovered that Eskom was crippled by corruption on a staggering scale.

As a result of the collapse of almost every government service and state owned enterprise, South Africans are perforce increasingly seeking ways to avoid or replace government services. State insurers have also failed.

We are all only too aware of the dire state of South Africa’s state-owned power provider - Eskom. We now live in permanent load shedding, and only the stages of load shedding alternate depending on the time of day, energy consumption and how much, or little power is available on the grid at a time.

Every South African is currently faced with the ongoing negative effects of rolling electricity blackouts, which Government euphemistically refers to as “load shedding”. It affects our businesses, our homes, our livelihoods, our safety and our faith in the future of our country.

Government’s conduct over the last century and more has led to the situation South Africa finds itself in today as regards the provision of electricity. Tracing a series of legislative and regulatory interventions in the electricity market, we can see how this came to be.

2023 is poised to be a year of accelerated change in and for South Africa. As the country heads toward a general election in 2024, a sea-change is on the cards. The African National Congress (ANC) are by all accounts on the point of obtaining below 50% at the voting booth; some estimates have the party even under 45%.