“All the foodstuffs I put in the fridge are bad; It’s been one week of total blackout.” These are a few of the thousand cries we hear when a power failure occurs.
Electricity is one of the most important blessings that science has given to mankind. It has become a part of modern life, and one cannot think of a world without it. For this reason, a lack of consistent access to reliable power costs businesses and the economy as a whole. Hence, to solve an interrupted supply of electricity In the city of South Africa in particular and the world at large, a South African electricity public utility known as ESKOM was established.
In this article, we are going to consider what ESKOM is and how it works.
What is ESKOM?
Eskom is South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility, established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission. Its operations help supply electricity to industrial, mining, commercial, agricultural and residential customers. Municipalities and other generators also have roles in the electricity system.
Electricity reaches homes and industries through generation, transmission and distribution networks. Power stations use different energy sources and technologies. The concentrated-solar process described by heliostats is one technology; it does not explain all of Eskom’s electricity generation.
As a primary electricity provider, ESKOM has helped the population of South Africa in providing sustainable electricity solutions and goes a long way to generate a sustainable foundation for growth and creating value for society through job creation, economic empowerment, and socio-economic development and transformation. On the other hand, a major setback of this Commission includes its high cost of operation resulting from failure to prepare for an increase in population’s needs.
To keep supply and demand in balance, the electricity system needs sufficient available generation and careful management of demand. Demand can be reduced through measures such as efficiency programmes and, when necessary, controlled interruptions.
ESKOM Loadshedding
Load shedding is the controlled interruption of electricity supply to reduce demand when the system cannot meet it. This helps protect the grid from a wider blackout. Eskom supplies some customers directly, while many customers receive electricity through municipalities.
South Africa’s electricity system includes Eskom, municipalities, other generators and regional interconnections. It is therefore inaccurate to say that the entire population depends only on electricity generated and supplied directly by Eskom.
How does ESKOM practice load shedding? (ESKOM’S load shedding schedules)
To do load shedding effectively, eight schedules have been developed by ESKOM. These include the following:
The First Stage involves the shedding of up to 1000MW
The Second Stage involves the shedding of up to 2000MW
The Third Stage involves the shedding of up to 3000MW
The Fourth Stage involves the shedding of up to 4000MW
The Fifth Stage involves the shedding of up to 5000MW
The Sixth Stage involves a load shed of up to 6000MW
The Seventh Stage involves a load shed of up to7000MW
The Eight Stage involves a load shed of up to 8000MW.
From the above schedules,
The stage indicates the amount of demand that must be removed from the system. The interruption times for your home or business depend on your supplier, area and the current schedule. Check the official Eskom schedule or your municipality instead of assuming the same number of outages applies everywhere.
Scheduled blocks and emergency instructions can differ by supplier and area. A local outage can also have causes other than load shedding, so confirm the notice that applies to your connection.
How much does eskom charge per kwh(ESKOM tariff)
There is no single per-kWh price for every Eskom customer. Charges depend on the tariff, customer category and applicable period. Homeflex is a tariff option, not a universal incentive. Check Eskom’s current tariffs and charges, or your municipality’s tariff if it supplies your electricity.
Eskom plays a major role in South Africa’s electricity supply, alongside municipalities and other generators. To understand your own service, check who supplies your connection, which tariff applies and where that supplier publishes outage information.
For more inquiries:
Postal: PO Box 1091, Johannesburg,2001
Physical: Maxwell Drive, Megawatt Park, Sunning hill, Sandton Johannesburg
Call: 011 800 8111/08600 37566
Website: www.eskom.co.za