Power supply unstable as economy booms

After almost a week of rolling blackouts, normal power supply was restored to South Africa's Western Cape province on Friday, but experts are questioning whether the country has the energy resources to keep up with a growing economy.

The power cuts reportedly cost big business US $81 million in loss of revenue, because of technical problems at the Koeberg nuclear power plant - the second time this year.

While the country's power utility, Eskom said it has made provisions to keep up with the growing power demands, business and experts claimed that the parastatal's growth plans were "unrealistic".

Eskom spokesman Fani Zulu said South Africa had four power generators in the pipeline, two of which were to be set up by the private sector.

"In the next five years, we also have plans to revive three other power plants, which were mothballed in the 1980s," he added. Eskom believes that the demand for power will increase at a rate of 1000 MW per year, based on this estimate, it's spare capacity will run out by 2005, at which point the mothballed plants of Camden, Grootvlei and Komati will be brought back on line, which should take care of the needs till 2010.

Zulu said Eskom had projected an annual growth in demand at "two to three percent" half the growth rate of around six percent forecast by most eperts.

Economist Jac Laubscher said the economy was projected to grow at six percent a year, "the demand for electricity would increase by around the same percentage."

He said the economy - which grew by 5 percent in 2005 - had exposed serious constraints not only in the power sector but in its ageing infrastructure.

"The economy is 35 percent larger than 10 years ago and you are still running on the same infrastructure, then you are heading for trouble," Laubscher said.

The business sector said they appreciated Eskom's efforts, but warned the plans were "too little and too late."

Peggy Drodskie, a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of South Africa said, "It takes at least 10 years to get a power plant operational and reviving mothballed plants is an expensive and long process."