SA power system not resilient enough, says energy analyst

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa has been plunged into Stage 6 blackouts.

Eskom says this is due to a spike in demand, probably due to the heatwave.

But energy analyst Chris Yelland says systems should be resilient against day-to-day weather conditions.

READ: Restore the power grid | Eskom, minister caught off guard by demand spike

He says this is not the case in South Africa, where there are no reserves in place.

"I just feel that when its summer, we know that there’s going to be hot spells and we know in winter there are cold spells.There are also rainy spells, there also cloudy spells.This is the norm," he said.

"A power system should be resilient enough to take the normal day-to-day issues of the weather.

READ: Eskom implements Stage 6 blackouts until Monday

Yelland said the fact that we’re on Stage 6 load-shedding indicates that there is no spare generation capacity.

"When one trips out, there is no spare generator that can take its place. When you shut down a unit for maintenance, there is no spare," he said.

"When you shut down a unit for maintenance there is increased load-shedding.

"So that’s where we are and that’s not how it should be."