The CCID said its Switch on to Switching Off project had the support of leading property developers, world-renowned restaurateurs and established merchants. Picture Ian Landsberg
We have survived survived more than 100 days with no load shedding.
That is quite the milestone, especially considering that we are in the cold heart of winter, when demand is at its highest.
In his recent newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that our electricity system remains vulnerable and that we cannot rule out a possibility of further cuts.
I truly hope that won’t be the case. And for that reason, I thought it would only be fair if I give credit where credit is due.
Almost exactly two years ago, I was hopeful, but also somewhat sceptical, about the efforts that were being made to banish load shedding to the history books.
I remember pleading with Eskom not to play with our feelings by making promises they couldn’t keep.
At that time things were looking good for our electricity network and plans were afoot to ensure we would be well and truly be out of the dark by the start of 2024.
Several of Eskom’s generation units had been brought back online, including the transmission line from the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique.
They were busy with design modifications at the Medupi Power Station and renewable energy producers had been invited to set up shop on land next to existing power stations, to feed their supply into the national grid.
It was all part of government’s Energy Action Plan, launched in July 2022, which involved collaboration between government, business, and other social partners.
Since then, Eskom launched its Generation Operational Recovery Plan, stepping up the maintenance schedule of power stations.
They also made the best and most obvious decision of all – bringing some engineers out of retirement to lend their expertise to the projects.
Over the past two years, Koeberg was stabilised and the Kusile Power Station’s Unit 5 was finally commissioned, adding a much-needed 800MW to the grid.
That is all at a national level, but in the Western Cape, the City of Cape Town had its own to reduce our reliance on Eskom.
The procurement process for independent power producers was finished in record time and there was excitement about independent companies feeding extra electricity into our local power grid.
The initiatives drew the attention of other municipalities that were also fed-up with Eskom.
At least one of them sent a delegation to Cape Town on a fact-finding mission.
All these efforts together have brought us to this point, having met the timeline of 24 months.
And I must admit, I am pleasantly surprised – even tempted to apologise for my cynicism, having suggested that they were doing whatever it takes to keep the lights on and lull us into a false sense of security, to get our votes.
But I don’t want to jinx it. So I will just say, well done. Keep it up.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za
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