SA's future shrouded in darkness

[Species8472]

If Billiton was shut down how much would this free up ?

In the article they state

The two, Hillside in KwaZulu-Natal and Mozal in Mozambique, consume about 5.68% of Eskom’s capacity.

If this applies to Eskom's total capacity of 41 990MW, then they use 2385.032MW

 

[grok]

Blaming the smelters is as idiotic as Zuma blaming the electrification of townships, government knew those contracts were in place plus they know what capacity we have & at what rate we consume at any given point in time.

Anyone smart enough would have anticipated and prevented the problem. Simple as that.

Our politicians on the other hand is dishonest and live in la-la land where capacity planning is just something the previous regime did.

 

[furpile]

The smelters are really not the problem here. So they use 2400 MW, Eskom has 14 000 MW unavailable (planned and unplanned). That's the reason we have blackouts. Also, the fact that Eskom has 41 990MW installed capacity, but max supply is only 30 211MW. Where is that other 12 000 MW (not part of the planned or unplanned outages)?

The biggest problem with the smelters is that they have contracts to get electricity for cheap. This comes from the time when we had too much electricity and this was the only way to get companies to invest in building these smelters. It's the same as the contract ArcelorMittal had to buy iron ore for 20% of market price from Kumba.

 

[Arthur]

The Billiton leccy deal used a complex formula that tied the price to world alu prices. Alu prices have not grown as anticipated, which has resulted in cheaper leccy for them. Eskom's costs have grown to such an extent that today the contract price for Billiton is below Eskom's cost -- or so Eskom claim.

 

[caspa]

Back in Eskoms hay day pre the ANC government when Eskom was run as an efficient entity RSA had so much spare capacity that the logical thing to do was to sell the surplus power at a reduced rate to the Smelters. Who would have predicted that all the skilled engineers that used to work for Eskom and maintain all the plants would get retrenched and replaced with palookas......and the rot would begin. Now Eskom is stuck with the smelter contracts and a shortage of power. Viva ANC Viva

 

[ellyally]

They use ±1GW. In another thread members said they are not the only smelters that are in use.

Yep, all big users total to around 60%, us plebs in houses and small businesses etc only use around 20% of all electricity eskom produces (will try find source graph), but us 20% pay the majority of that 60%. i.e., around 15GW eskom sells at below cost to smelters etc, we pay the difference for them, and get load shedded first

 

[cavedog]

Yep Bayside smelter was shut down due to old technology that used too much electricity making operation there financially unviable....

That must have freed up some electricity. Imagine if they were still running how our loadshedding would have been then. Hillside is still in full operation and still running 24/7 even when we had stage 3 loadshedding.

Tons of electricity going into these industries here in Richards Bay like Hillside smelter,Tata Steal smelter, Foskor, Mondi, Silvacell, RBCT and RBM and when we are getting loadhsedding they are running with tons of lights burning 24/7 around the plants.....

 

[Jim West]

Force majeure

 

[Gordon_R]

Force majeure

incurred not as a product or result of the negligence of a party

Try running that past a judge...

 

[HavocXphere]

In the week of April 27, Eskom forecasts 37 190MW of available capacity. Assuming losses of 11 000MW under the likely risk scenario, as well as the loss of 6 583MW because of planned maintenance, only 19 337MW may be available.

Holy sht! 19 - 21 GW available (depending on estimate)

How exactly is that going to work out winter time @ 36GW peak???

As a side note...if any of the ANC chops are reading this...how about you flex a bit of muscle and make PnP stop selling electric heaters on special. Actually...same goes for all those fkin retailers still pushing electric heaters...their ignorance was mildly amusing in an ironic kind of way when this started...but seriously...you can stop now.

 

[Wasabee!]

Holy sht! 19 - 21 GW available (depending on estimate)

How exactly is that going to work out winter time @ 36GW peak???

As a side note...if any of the ANC chops are reading this...how about you flex a bit of muscle and make PnP stop selling electric heaters on special. Actually...same goes for all those fkin retailers still pushing electric heaters...their ignorance was mildly amusing in an ironic kind of way when this started...but seriously...you can stop now.

I agree with the heaters, but I think a more valid point is the normal incandescent bulbs vs LED/CCFL. The normal 60/100W bulbs should be banned and LED/CCFL should be subsidized.

 

[agel]

LED all the way - CFL's use more power and are hard to dispose of due to the Mercury in them (not that some care but anyway), and if stand on shards of a broken CFL, you're in for a rough/tough ride...


"She apologised on behalf of the government “for the inconvenience anyone has suffered due to load-shedding” and thanked citizens for their patience."

Lol, I don't want you apology or your thanks, you can stick it for all I care! =P

 

[Iwojima]

I realise the article was originally from M&G, but MyBB really needs to be careful publishing unsubstantiated claims, i.e. the 12 hour load shedding claim, lest it come across as simply posting "click bait".

 

[ellyally]

I realise the article was originally from M&G, but MyBB really needs to be careful publishing unsubstantiated claims, i.e. the 12 hour load shedding claim, lest it come across as simply posting "click bait".

Not far off though, JHB already gets 9hours a day on stage 3, thats when things go according to plan. When things don't and they can't turn us back on due to substation problems, its longer. Multiple times my 4.5hours turns into a 7-8hour followed by another 4.5hours. So, thats already 11-13 hours a day without any additional stages and problems added(hasn't happened last couple of weeks thank god).

 

[grok]

Back in Eskoms hay day pre the ANC government when Eskom was run as an efficient entity RSA had so much spare capacity that the logical thing to do was to sell the surplus power at a reduced rate to the Smelters. Who would have predicted that all the skilled engineers that used to work for Eskom and maintain all the plants would get retrenched and replaced with palookas......and the rot would begin. Now Eskom is stuck with the smelter contracts and a shortage of power. Viva ANC Viva

Exactly.. like a new baker who bakes less cake due to lack of experience, adds even more cake-gobbling mouths to the party, ignores warnings that the cake is running out despite having willing helpers & a pantry full of ingredients, then cry afterwards because there's no more cake left & it affects his income.

It really takes a special kind of stupid..

 

[TheGrimReaperUH]

"Experts expect the situation to get worse come winter, despite the government’s confidence that the power grid is sufficiently stable."

.... cANCer please be aware, loadshedding is a sign that the grid is not stable!.... retards...

 

[kianm]

Maybe my neighborhood will continue to have minimal cuts then

#hopeful

 

[HavocXphere]

I agree with the heaters, but I think a more valid point is the normal incandescent bulbs vs LED/CCFL. The normal 60/100W bulbs should be banned and LED/CCFL should be subsidized.

SA is actually doing *really* well on the lightbulb side. Recently spent some time EU side...incandescent bulbs fkin everywhere...at electricity rates twice SA rates. First thought "what the f are these guys doing".

Seems there is just no demand...so actually getting LEDs is a mission. e.g. ZA side I bought LEDs for 50 a pop (nice PnP special)....here I doubt I can get even a CFL for that price. (I have yet to see a single LED in *any* shop 3 months later). And amazon isn't really being helpful either (weird).

All the heating & cooling tech is way superior to ZA tech though so I think they still come out on top given that these chow most of the juice.

 

[richjdavies]

SA is actually doing *really* well on the lightbulb side. Recently spent some time EU side...incandescent bulbs fkin everywhere...at electricity rates twice SA rates. First thought "what the f are these guys doing".

What are you talking about ... are you sure you aren't in a NON-EU country?
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/aug/31/lightbulbs-incandescent-europe
The EU banned incandescent bulbs 3 years ago... yes you can actually still buy them... but that's beside the point.
(also things are just generally expensive in the Euro-zone right now)

 

[HavocXphere]

What are you talking about ... are you sure you aren't in a NON-EU country?

Currently in England, which if I'm not mistaken is still part of the EU...still got some incandescents here e.g. my bathroom. 100W if I eyeball it right (I'm not footing the bill on that...if I was that thing would be in the dustbin already)

Also...loads of energy heavy down lighters and the locals feel the need to heat even when its not even remotely cold. (seriously...weather equivalent to mild Gauteng autumn and they're heating???). And thats not me being hardcore...its genuinely not cold.

Point is I'm pretty shocked at the overall state of lighting efficiency this side. Its probably just me being hyper-aware of these things having done the whole ZA reducing electricity bill thing recently.