Noting really new being exposed by Carte Blanche with the exception of concrete numbers on the exports.
Eskom and government have been contradicting themselves and each other the last 2 weeks when asked about exports so it was obvious that they had stopped nothing and were continuing the supply to our neighbors despite our industry being crippled by power cuts.
Realistically speaking though, is it even a viable option to stop supply?
Botswana gets I think 75% of their power from SA, if we shut them off completely we would only compound the crisis for the region as a whole. Tough decisions indeed.
As for the coal issue, the numbers quoted were for transporting coal, not the coal price as such iirc.
The main point it seems is that the power stations are producing less electricity than they did last year, or the year before that. There is no excuse for this other than bad management.
The transportation of coal was outsourced to a number of BEE contractors, some with little or no experience of this type of operation. The one was an interior designer or something.
Add the bad state of roads to and from the power stations taking their toll on the reliability of the trucks and their maintainance costs, the amount Eskom was paying these contractors did not amount to a number that was even remotely possible for a business to continue.
Coal stock piles at the power plants are apparently at an all time low, in the past being enough on site for 30-45 days. We have some of the cheapest coal in the world and plenty of it, but we, for some or other reason, are incapable of getting this coal to the power stations.
The rain has always been around and the coal has always been exposed to the elements the experts say so this is no excuse.
Eskom, when pressed by D Watts would not provide any information on coal availability at the power stations. I wonder why
When will Eskom and the government stop lying to the public though, thats what I want to know.
Another aspect that was not looked at was the location on Majuba power station.... It was built next to a coal seam.... and only to find out after the power station was built that there WAS NO COAL at the location.
10+ years ago when I was working on the project there were rumours that the land Majuba stands currently was 'organised' and the surveyor was paid for a 'favourable' report.
I was a lowly contractor then and had no-way to substantiate the claims.
