Towards the end of last week, we were grateful to have loadshedding slowing down from the severe pain of stage 6 to stage 4 and milder levels during the weekend.
That we feel gratitude and relief while still being subjected to rolling blackouts is ridiculous, in the face of arguably the greatest current threat to our economy.
Eskom chair Mpho Makwana warned that we should expect load-shedding to be permanent for the next two years, albeit at the “milder” stages 2 and 3, allowing for more certainty and predictability for consumers, and giving the power utility breathing space to attend to maintenance and recovery, implementing its plan to end load-shedding.
In the same media call, outgoing CEO Andre de Ruyter said the threat of stage 8 was “receding”, offering South Africans small comfort.
Also during the weekend, the presidency released an update from the National Energy Crisis Committee, announcing some welcome progress in measures to improve Eskom’s performance and in untangling red tape to facilitate private sector investment in power generation and accelerate procurement of alternative energy into the national grid.
However, it is still apparent that there is no definitive rescue plan to urgently address our country’s electricity crisis.
Resolving the problems of Eskom is out of our control, and despite positive progress, we still need to find ways locally to limit the impact on investment and jobs.
The chamber recently surveyed high-energy manufacturers in the Bay on the impact of stage 5+ load-shedding towards the end of last year and on their ability to restart production in the new year.
It is disturbing that, more than a week into the new production year, one manufacturer — a critical supplier into the automotive industry — had not yet managed to start up production at all, due to the high levels of load-shedding.
The head office of another has called it a day, planning to close its plant and move operations out of SA by the end of the year, with accompanying job losses.
Others reported problems of being switched off at the wrong time, negating their efforts at planning ahead for production to continue.
They reported impacts in reduced production, not meeting export order targets, lost or reduced orders, and penalties and reputational damage due to late delivery, which could result in losing future orders.
Some are in severe crisis and have issued force majeure notices to customers.
As the business chamber, and particularly our electricity task team, we are doing everything in our power to support local business in saving investments and jobs, working closely with the municipality to explore mutually workable solutions.
With the municipality’s agreement and based on certain of their criteria being met, 23 large energy-intensive manufacturers are participating in a 24-hour voluntary loadshedding schedule.
Depending on the loadshedding stage, these manufacturers have one or two days off at a time, with more consecutive days on, allowing for less interruption to production, especially for those with long or complex start-up processes.
As we learn more about the different manufacturing processes, we are continuing to work with the municipality to implement refinements to the schedule at different stages of load-shedding, and to enable more companies to be included in this voluntary schedule.
A further option being explored with the municipality is load curtailment, which could potentially be less disruptive to production.
This would mean that, from stage 5 onwards, participating manufacturers would reduce their base load demand by 10% per stage — allowing production to continue, albeit at a lower level.
One size doesn’t fit all, as different manufacturers have different production and energy requirements, and the 24hour voluntary load-shedding and load curtailment solutions don’t work for all businesses.
There are various options on the table, urgently being explored with the municipality, because in this time of crisis, we need out-of-the-box thinking to keep business going, and to keep it in the metro.
At the same time, business needs to play its part to reduce the risks of load-shedding and we urge all businesses, small and large, to reduce energy consumption wherever practically possible.
Where financially feasible, explore alternative, renewable energy solutions for backup power and reducing reliance on the electricity grid.
Longer term, the chamber has a renewable energy cluster in place which comprises participation of among the biggest manufacturers in the metro, and is working to get a combined wind and solar solution in place.
The project is on track to be implemented within two years and could potentially result in eliminating at least three stages of load-shedding for the entire metro, subject to the buy-in of Eskom, the municipality and other stakeholders.
Whether for reasons of transitioning to a low carbon future, increasingly high tariffs or the need for business continuity with uninterrupted power supply — it is clear that the days of relying solely on Eskom and municipalities for power are gone forever.
We all need to collaborate to prevent investment and jobs from being lost due to the electricity crisis.