Siseko Njobeni
26 August 2009
Johannesburg — THE mining industry has saved about 250MW of electricity mainly because of improvements in pumping and compressed air systems, Eskom said yesterday.
Unless additional electricity capacity from new coal-fired power stations comes on stream, reduction of demand is SA's shield against future electricity supply shortages. With the reserve margin still relatively low, the electricity system is still under threat.
Speaking at an energy efficiency seminar yesterday, Monkwe Mpye, Eskom demand side management manager, said the mining industry consumed about 15% of Eskom's total output and of this "gold mining uses 47%, platinum mining 33% and other mining 20%. Further, our research shows that 23% of the energy consumed is in materials handling processes."
Also speaking at the seminar, Eskom demand side management GM Nosipho Maphumulo said that with 4% annual economic growth, SA would have to increase electricity capacity from 40000MW to 57710MW by 2025. On the assumption of a much more optimistic 6% economic growth rate, electricity capacity would have to increase to 77960MW.
"What that means is that we will need one (new) station a year. That is untenable to us as a country," she said. Coal and nuclear are SA's options for base load capacity. Most of Eskom's current capital expenditure programme entails construction or bringing back into service coal-fired power stations. Eskom last year put on hold plans to build a new nuclear power station, citing high costs. But the utility has said that nuclear would still be part of its future energy mix.
Maphumulo said the global recession, which has reduced demand for electricity, had given Eskom a breathing space.
"It is common knowledge that there is a critical power shortage. This has temporarily been alleviated by the economic downturn and decreased production. However, the downturn is not expected to continue beyond the early part of 2010, and with just a steady recovery, SA's power reserve margins will erode rapidly," Maphumulo said.
But the economic downturn had also reduced financial resources. " No one has an abundance of funds," she said.
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