Eskom power blackout warning

With all this FUD, they must be pushing for one moer of a tariff increase
 
Nerfherder said:
They have a plan. The question is so we have a plan. I think most of us don't
Click to expand...

Let us decide then what to do :
(The MyBB action plan for citizens when an electricity blackout hits South Africa)

1. Get lots of bottled water (most important) and canned food, or food that has a long shelf life.
2. Drive to family/loved ones and immediately go and knock on all neighbours doors and set up a watch. (This will be crucial if you want to have a chance of surviving this.)
3. Grab a FM radio and put batteries in the back of it....you need to listen to any broadcasts.
4. Make sure you know what to do in case a gang tries to break into your house.
5. Constantly keep in contact with neighbours.
6....
 
Wow, everything I ever learnt about electricity is turned on its head by this article.

I always understood that if a switch in a circuit was opened, then current ceased to flow. I also always understood that an electrical supply circuit is built on a hierarchical system of circuit breakers where the lowest level supplied the smallest number of devices, those a level up supplied a few lower level breakers and that the ratings of the breakers were such that the lower levels tripped first, which reduced the amount of current flowing, which then stopped the higher level breakers from tripping.

So in a country level network, surely it is designed such that a trip to a plug in the wall of the house trips first, then the house trips, then the road trips, then the substation trips, then the area trips, then the province trips etc etc.

So if one area is drawing a brazillion gigawatts of power, that area is disconnected and it can lo longer affect anything else, there is no such thing as potential current usage as long as that area remains disconnected.
 
bekdik said:
Wow, everything I ever learnt about electricity is turned on its head by this article.

I always understood that if a switch in a circuit was opened, then current ceased to flow. I also always understood that an electrical supply circuit is built on a hierarchical system of circuit breakers where the lowest level supplied the smallest number of devices, those a level up supplied a few lower level breakers and that the ratings of the breakers were such that the lower levels tripped first, which reduced the amount of current flowing, which then stopped the higher level breakers from tripping.

So in a country level network, surely it is designed such that a trip to a plug in the wall of the house trips first, then the house trips, then the road trips, then the substation trips, then the area trips, then the province trips etc etc.

So if one area is drawing a brazillion gigawatts of power, that area is disconnected and it can lo longer affect anything else, there is no such thing as potential current usage as long as that area remains disconnected.
Click to expand...

Don't come with your smartgrid tendencies!
 
Bekdik - no it won't trip from too much draw on the house side. Well yes it will but not nearly soon enough. Take a house - you can easily double draw without tripping anything in most of them. Double if not quadruple if EL is low. Same story at the next substation. They're designed to deal with peaks in power without tripping.

So far so good... Now add zero safety margin in available gen capacity. End result the generation side falls over before demand breakers trip.

There is also a big diff between a house tripping and a plant losing sync.
 
kingrob said:
Let us decide then what to do :
(The MyBB action plan for citizens when an electricity blackout hits South Africa)

1. Get lots of bottled water (most important) and canned food, or food that has a long shelf life.
2. Drive to family/loved ones and immediately go and knock on all neighbours doors and set up a watch. (This will be crucial if you want to have a chance of surviving this.)
3. Grab a FM radio and put batteries in the back of it....you need to listen to any broadcasts.
4. Make sure you know what to do in case a gang tries to break into your house.
5. Constantly keep in contact with neighbours.
6....
Click to expand...

If this had been posted 10 years ago I'd have laughed.
 
Paul_S said:
If this had been posted 10 years ago I'd have laughed.
Click to expand...

Recently I've had this dread hanging over me more and more. S.A's uncertain future is really worrisome, lately I'm imagining thousands of looters rampaging through suburbs and causing havoc as they did in Soweto.

We have no real means to defend ourselves, and instead of focussing on normal life one have thoughts of do we have enough food, water. Should one get a gun etc.

Sad really.
 
Eskom are just holding the country at ransom so they can get a bigger chunk of the budget this year. I believe its pure politicking.
 
Me thinks EKSDOM needs the A-Team...they always have a plan

One think that some forward planning would have been a HIGH priority when they did their roadmap post 1994. Back then, with proper planning, they would have seen that expansion, repairs, upgrades is an ABSOLUTE must because they were bringing more and more consumers online so to speak. Instead, the CEO gets increases and bonuses at a rate faster than he can spend it, the Government wants their piece of pie, "power" struggles are rife, chaos erupts and joe soap starts stealing from right under their noses because EKSDOM is too focused on ensuring that their own little empires are safe.

Just my 2c...
 
Did Eskom give any indication how many businesses with 1 MW generating capacity have joined their pay for electricity program?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X