South Africa - is loadshedding that bad?
Discussion
Due in SA in less than 2 weeks and reading that loadshedding appears to be worse than ever.
We experienced the joys of loadshedding on our first visit in 2020 but we worked around it once we worked out which stage/zone we were in.
Our second visit in 2022, no issues whatsoever.
Looks like they are at stage 4 & 5 so quite significant - we’ve uploaded the Eskom app in preparation.
We never experienced it in Cape Town though
We experienced the joys of loadshedding on our first visit in 2020 but we worked around it once we worked out which stage/zone we were in.
Our second visit in 2022, no issues whatsoever.
Looks like they are at stage 4 & 5 so quite significant - we’ve uploaded the Eskom app in preparation.
We never experienced it in Cape Town though
As a tourist or otherwise?
I was in Cape Town at the end of October and it needed planning around but didn't cause too many problems. All the busy areas seemed to have contingencies in place so no real problems there.
The load shedding was twice a day pretty much every day we were there I reckon, usually starting early in the morning and another early evening.
Each period could be 3-5 hours so a significant chunk of the day, and a couple of times it happened with almost no notice, even with the app.
I was in Cape Town at the end of October and it needed planning around but didn't cause too many problems. All the busy areas seemed to have contingencies in place so no real problems there.
The load shedding was twice a day pretty much every day we were there I reckon, usually starting early in the morning and another early evening.
Each period could be 3-5 hours so a significant chunk of the day, and a couple of times it happened with almost no notice, even with the app.
craigjm said:
Where are you going? It’s different in different parts of the country. Most outages are 4 hours now and more regular than back in 2020.
There is no Eskom app. I assume you mean Eskom sepush
Sorry yes that’s the one.There is no Eskom app. I assume you mean Eskom sepush
6 nights Cape Town (Atlantic Marina), 5 nights Hermanus then 8 nights Franschhoek (all Airbnb’s).
I’m assuming most bars & restaurants have standby generators as they did in 2020 but definitely getting worse.
Boxster5 said:
craigjm said:
Where are you going? It’s different in different parts of the country. Most outages are 4 hours now and more regular than back in 2020.
There is no Eskom app. I assume you mean Eskom sepush
Sorry yes that’s the one.There is no Eskom app. I assume you mean Eskom sepush
6 nights Cape Town (Atlantic Marina), 5 nights Hermanus then 8 nights Franschhoek (all Airbnb’s).
I’m assuming most bars & restaurants have standby generators as they did in 2020 but definitely getting worse.
the app is run by two guys who started it to make it easier to find when load sheddding is in your area from the really confusing info Eskom puts out Most bars and restaurants have generators / solar as do lots of private residences. If not then at the very least theh will have inverters so they can at least keep the important stuff going. Whenever I’m there we just plan our social life around who has power
e600 said:
What a way to run a country. Is this deliberate, industrial action, poor management or sabotage ?
It’s poor management. They basically have a power grid that is antiquated and has not been maintained properly and a reliance on coal mining forced by very powerful unions. This leads to there not being enough electricity to meet demand so the electricity company (there is only one, state owned) removes you from the grid based on your location for 2-4 hour periods a number of times a day based on the “load shedding stage”. In reality you get used to it fairly quickly and find ways round it. It is worse at the moment than it’s been for a long time. craigjm said:
It’s poor management. They basically have a power grid that is antiquated and has not been maintained properly and a reliance on coal mining forced by very powerful unions. This leads to there not being enough electricity to meet demand so the electricity company (there is only one, state owned) removes you from the grid based on your location for 2-4 hour periods a number of times a day based on the “load shedding stage”. In reality you get used to it fairly quickly and find ways round it. It is worse at the moment than it’s been for a long time.
Pretty much. They currently have ~6GW out for maintenance but a whopping 16GW out because of breakdowns. Total s
t show. Eskom also has an obscene amount of debt. Corruption and mismanagement.djc206 said:
craigjm said:
It’s poor management. They basically have a power grid that is antiquated and has not been maintained properly and a reliance on coal mining forced by very powerful unions. This leads to there not being enough electricity to meet demand so the electricity company (there is only one, state owned) removes you from the grid based on your location for 2-4 hour periods a number of times a day based on the “load shedding stage”. In reality you get used to it fairly quickly and find ways round it. It is worse at the moment than it’s been for a long time.
Pretty much. They currently have ~6GW out for maintenance but a whopping 16GW out because of breakdowns. Total st show. Eskom also has an obscene amount of debt. Corruption and mismanagement.craigjm said:
The job of CEO is currently up for recruitment. The outgoing one survived a poisoning attempt with cyanide recently! It’s sad really that anyone new wouldn’t be allowed to do what really needs to happen, mass solar and wind and remove the reliance on coal. They need a properly costed maintenance programme too but corruption is so rife in the country that it still wouldn’t happen. Lots of the power gets stolen too by the squatter camps and poor areas and nothing is done about it yet those people still Complain about load shedding
I’ll stick with my current job then. The coffee isn’t great at work but it’s not going to kill me.I see they just keep buying diesel to fuel pumped storage. Sticky plaster on a GSW.
They could have made it work with coal but yeah in a country with abundant solar and wind and a fairly strong engineering history you’d think…
djc206 said:
craigjm said:
The joke circulating at the moment is
AC= alternating current
DC = direct current
ANC = absolutely no current
HahaAC= alternating current
DC = direct current
ANC = absolutely no current
Not something I really expected to have to manage over and above the usual training/skills/people stuff. Puts our "my train was cancelled/ half-inch of snow" type workplace absence difficulties into perspective.
craigjm said:
e600 said:
What a way to run a country. Is this deliberate, industrial action, poor management or sabotage ?
It’s poor management. They basically have a power grid that is antiquated and has not been maintained properly and a reliance on coal mining forced by very powerful unions. This leads to there not being enough electricity to meet demand so the electricity company (there is only one, state owned) removes you from the grid based on your location for 2-4 hour periods a number of times a day based on the “load shedding stage”. In reality you get used to it fairly quickly and find ways round it. It is worse at the moment than it’s been for a long time. Someone somewhere is going to have make some very tough decisions with a view to introducing solar PV and wind (after all, there’s plenty of both!) to spread the reliance across alternative energy sources - the existing plant is so run down & badly maintained (a bit like some of the railways that have been abandoned) that it is economically not viable. Such a shame as South Africa is stunning but there’s a distinct divide between the have’s and have not’s.
Boxster5 said:
craigjm said:
e600 said:
What a way to run a country. Is this deliberate, industrial action, poor management or sabotage ?
It’s poor management. They basically have a power grid that is antiquated and has not been maintained properly and a reliance on coal mining forced by very powerful unions. This leads to there not being enough electricity to meet demand so the electricity company (there is only one, state owned) removes you from the grid based on your location for 2-4 hour periods a number of times a day based on the “load shedding stage”. In reality you get used to it fairly quickly and find ways round it. It is worse at the moment than it’s been for a long time. Someone somewhere is going to have make some very tough decisions with a view to introducing solar PV and wind (after all, there’s plenty of both!) to spread the reliance across alternative energy sources - the existing plant is so run down & badly maintained (a bit like some of the railways that have been abandoned) that it is economically not viable. Such a shame as South Africa is stunning but there’s a distinct divide between the have’s and have not’s.
We were there in December, in Cape Town area and Franschhoek. Load shedding is the worst it’s been in all the time I’ve been there, we got up to ‘stage 6’ during our visit, meaning, typically 4 hours in the morning and 2 or 4 hours in the evening, with additional time overnight. Power is also off for each incidence of planned load shedding, whereas previously it was hit and miss, and sometimes didn’t go off. Not now,
When it was a couple of hours a couple of times a day you didn’t really notice it, and many places, including most bars and restaurants and shops, have adapted and can continue to operate at differing levels, so you can get by. We stayed in three Airbnbs and each one had torches, battery powered lamps, two had battery back up for the Wi-Fi, and one had batteries for everything apart from the air con, fridge and oven. With it being a couple of 4 hour periods which we had for a few days, it makes it a little more awkward around certain things, like cooking if at home, charging phones etc, Wi-Fi off depending on the set up where you are staying (although the mobile networks continue to operate). The 4 hour load shedding even challenges the battery capacity at places that have them, as they don’t get chance to recharge between shut downs.
Overall, though, it was an inconvenience that you worked around, rather than an annoyance. As our relatives always say ‘this is Africa!’ And I wouldn’t let it put me off going, just be prepared. The app mentioned above is spot on and you get used to planning ahead each day.
When it was a couple of hours a couple of times a day you didn’t really notice it, and many places, including most bars and restaurants and shops, have adapted and can continue to operate at differing levels, so you can get by. We stayed in three Airbnbs and each one had torches, battery powered lamps, two had battery back up for the Wi-Fi, and one had batteries for everything apart from the air con, fridge and oven. With it being a couple of 4 hour periods which we had for a few days, it makes it a little more awkward around certain things, like cooking if at home, charging phones etc, Wi-Fi off depending on the set up where you are staying (although the mobile networks continue to operate). The 4 hour load shedding even challenges the battery capacity at places that have them, as they don’t get chance to recharge between shut downs.
Overall, though, it was an inconvenience that you worked around, rather than an annoyance. As our relatives always say ‘this is Africa!’ And I wouldn’t let it put me off going, just be prepared. The app mentioned above is spot on and you get used to planning ahead each day.
Eskom have announced today that in order to "create some predictability" in load shedding that permanent load shedding will be implemented from end of January 2023 for two years where areas will remain at stage 2 and 3 with the aim of creating a programme in that time which will increase its energy availability factor to a point where load shedding can cease after February 2025.
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