Saffas - is this the beginning of the end for Eskom

[troglodiet]

Stage 5 load shedding as Eskom sees devastating breakdown of another 5 units overnight - and warns higher stages may follow.

Another 5 generating units broke down overnight and on Saturday morning, with a combined capacity of 2 400 MW. Eskom will implement Stage 5 load shedding from 10am on Saturday, it said in a statement.

This will continue until 5am on Monday.

It warned higher stages may be rolled out at short notice.

A unit each at Kusile, Arnot and Camden, as well as two units at Duvha Power Station tripped.

Currently there are 7 210MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 597MW are unavailable due to breakdowns.

50% of capacity currently not available.

Starting up Pelindaba could solve a lot of their problems, but noooo...



But I'm still a glass half-full type of person and will always look for the positive.

The load shedding schedule is running smack bang on time. Quite a feat for our government; i think most governments around the world would be envious of that precision.

[OomStruisbaai]

It's a disaster

[FalseBayFC]

Looking at buying a place near Piketberg. Its got a borehole and big solar setup. The owner will stay on and look after the small flock of sheep and herd of Drakensbergers. Will cut off all news from outside and live happily off grid.

[assfly]

How is it the end for Eskom? It's not like they have any competition.

There was a guy on 702 this week saying that it will take 5-10 years to get SA back to normal levels of uninterrupted power again.

[Slick]

How is it the end for Eskom? It's not like they have any competition.

There was a guy on 702 this week saying that it will take 5-10 years to get SA back to normal levels of uninterrupted power again.

Presumably that’s if the stealing stops

[troglodiet]

How is it the end for Eskom? It's not like they have any competition.

You answered your own question.

By "end of Eskom" I basically meant in its current form, as SOE.

Privatise Eskom, sell it and allow competition. That's the only way they're going to fix the problem in the long run.

[Chilli]

How is it the end for Eskom? It's not like they have any competition.

There was a guy on 702 this week saying that it will take 5-10 years to get SA back to normal levels of uninterrupted power again.

Presumably that’s if the stealing stops

Well that ain't gonna happen.

[OomStruisbaai]

Cape Town budget to be off load shedding within three years.

[OomStruisbaai]

Looking at buying a place near Piketberg. Its got a borehole and big solar setup. The owner will stay on and look after the small flock of sheep and herd of Drakensbergers. Will cut off all news from outside and live happily off grid.

[Sards]

Damn. Just realized we have been running on inverter and batteries the whole day. Forgot to switch over. Will be interesting to see how long the batteries last.

[assfly]

You answered your own question.

By "end of Eskom" I basically meant in its current form, as SOE.

Privatise Eskom, sell it and allow competition. That's the only way they're going to fix the problem in the long run.

Is that a serious option though? They're about to put up rates, so there is still a vested interest in the state running and looting it.

The most worrying thing about this entire debacle is the total lack of solutions at the moment. I'm sure it would be slightly easier to tolerate loadshedding if people knew what the final outcome was. But in recent days it has transpired that the situation is only going to get worse.

[OomStruisbaai]

You answered your own question.

By "end of Eskom" I basically meant in its current form, as SOE.

Privatise Eskom, sell it and allow competition. That's the only way they're going to fix the problem in the long run.

Is that a serious option though? They're about to put up rates, so there is still a vested interest in the state running and looting it.

The most worrying thing about this entire debacle is the total lack of solutions at the moment. I'm sure it would be slightly easier to tolerate loadshedding if people knew what the final outcome was. But in recent days it has transpired that the situation is only going to get worse.

Well they are clever enough to think out a solar tax or fee if you want to go off the grit.

[average joe]

Know of someone who decided to go full solar. Don't know the whole story and how it was done but they ended up with their Eskom meter turning backwards. Apparently they have to go to court now.

[Calculon]

Know of someone who decided to go full solar. Don't know the whole story and how it was done but they ended up with their Eskom meter turning backwards. Apparently they have to go to court now.

[average joe]

What's he got to do with it? In China the meters all run the wrong way?

[troglodiet]

You answered your own question.

By "end of Eskom" I basically meant in its current form, as SOE.

Privatise Eskom, sell it and allow competition. That's the only way they're going to fix the problem in the long run.

Is that a serious option though? They're about to put up rates, so there is still a vested interest in the state running and looting it.

The most worrying thing about this entire debacle is the total lack of solutions at the moment. I'm sure it would be slightly easier to tolerate loadshedding if people knew what the final outcome was. But in recent days it has transpired that the situation is only going to get worse.

It is a serious option for us, the citizens/consumers.

It definitely isn't for the politicians.

[assfly]

OK so it's a serious option. But is it a realistic one?

I'm labouring the point as I'm still amazed that there are still so few genuine solutions being floated to the crisis.

[Sards]

OK so it's a serious option. But is it a realistic one?

I'm labouring the point as I'm still amazed that there are still so few genuine solutions being floated to the crisis.

The ANC cannot remove the monopoly that is Eskom. IPPs are in place. But using them would reduce Eskoms income.

[bok_viking]

It is great that they removed some of the limitations related to private energy setups, energy production caps as well as one of the biggest hurdles where these companies were forced to get there solar panels, etc from local manufacturers. This clause caused massive delays on its own as the local manufacturer/s could not produce panels close to demand and was delaying solar farms by years. So hopefully the private side of things will speed up now and put lots of pressure on Eskom to improve or lose lots of business.

[Sards]

It is great that they removed some of the limitations related to private energy setups, energy production caps as well as one of the biggest hurdles where these companies were forced to get there solar panels, etc from local manufacturers. This clause caused massive delays on its own as the local manufacturer/s could not produce panels close to demand and was delaying solar farms by years. So hopefully the private side of things will speed up now and put lots of pressure on Eskom to improve or lose lots of business.

The hand was forced. Look. I am all for local content. But in most cases it just is not practical and far too many of these forced laws come with some form of kickback where the only ones making money are the ones getting the kickback. The manufacturer has to carry all the input costs.