Loadshedding: E-tolling system not affected

UPDATE: 7 March, 3pm:

It is reported that e-toll gantries will not be affected by load shedding. When power was out on 6 March the gantries on the N1 remained lit.

During a press briefing on 7 March, Eskom CEO Brian Dames dismissed any claims that load shedding had impacted public services like the Gautrain, while e-toll gantries remained operational to serve an ‘agenda’.

“You give us too much credit,” Dames said in response to questions regarding the matter.

The briefing comes after Eskom cut power in areas around Gauteng for two hours, declaring a power emergency. Eskom continues to appeal to residents to reduce their electricity usage to avoid impromptu power cuts.

UPDATE: 7 March, 2pm:

The current wet coal could take days to dry depending on the conditions.

However, Eskom has processes to establish the condition of the coal. If the coal reaches below a determined moisture content, even if it’s not completely dry, can be used.

Dames said challenges to the system depends on the demand of electricity but would likely remain for the next few years.

He added that “…it was necessary to sustain more power supply options such as more independent power producers and the a significant number of units at Medupi and Kusile would need to come online.”

Eskom said there were consumers such as Metrorail and water systems which were largely excluded from the load shedding schedule in order to prevent the disruption of these services.

However, the utility offered exceptions to facilities such as hospitals, which were included on the schedule and notified that their supply would be interrupted. However, they could contact the utility if they urgently needed to be reconnected.

Dames said that five units on the Medupi power station, which is not yet online, would be required to handle the emergency on 6 March.

“However, the industrial and commercial sectors could make significant contributions to reducing electricity consumption.”

UPDATE: 7 March, 1pm:

According to Eskom CEO Brian Dames on 5 March Eskom met the demands and that night the system was stable.

“In the early hours of 6 March we lost the four units at Kendal Power Station,” he said.

This was due to it receiving very wet fine coal from the open cast mine and all the feeders into the station had to be stopped.

In an unrelated coal event, there was a hydrogen supply problem to the generator at Majubu Power Station.

As a result by 5am on 6 March Eskom had lost 3320 megawatts and the utility had consumed all its emergency reserves.

By 8am we faced a shortfall of 3000 megawatts, which had to be recouped.

“In order to prevent a total power loss, controlled loadshedding had to be implemented.”

According to Dames the coal bunkers are currently full, except for Kendal. However, the utility plans to increase its stock during the weekend.

However, the coal stock pile at Kendal is in a good state compared to other stations.

Dames warned “should anything go wrong, impacting the power supply by more than 1000 megawatts, it affects supply and demand.”

He said that the system frequency is maintained at 50 percent, but the power systems will remain constrained in the coming weeks in terms of its reserves.

Eskom has acknowledged that there was a problem with its website as it was inundated with queries. The public has been advised that the utility has taken to social media to better address their customers’ concerns.

They continue to call on customers to reduce electricity wastage.

UPDATE: 7 March, 12.30pm:

Zola Tsotsi Chairman Eskom Board

“The decision to undertake loadshedding was not taken lightly,” said Eskom Board Chairman Zola Tsotsi.

“The impression was created that loadshedding was attributed to wet coal, but the bottom line is that the power system is very vulnerable and we need to make energy system healthier.”

Some customers are serviced by municipalities and not Eskom. Eskom does not carry their schedules but have been working with them to address the situation.

Tsotsi reiterated that loadshedding is a last resort and is used to prevent a total power blackout that could jeopordise the economic stability of the country.

“The state of emergency was lifted on 6 March. We thank the public for their cooperation.”

Brian Dames, Eskom CEO also apologised to all South Africans for the incidents of 6 March and has assured them that the utility is working to ensure that it does not revert to loadshedding.

According to Dames there has been no loadshedding since 10pm on 6 March.

Any power outages and robots that are not in operation have been attributed to municipal providers.

Eskom has committed to early warnings but the events of yesterday did not provide the utility sufficient opportunity to alert customers timeously.

Dames said addressing constrains on the power grid required contributions from Eskom and all parties affected.

“Demand protocols were not in place but these, which are determined by the regulator have since been put in place,” said Dames

UPDATE: 7 March, 11.30am:

The utility has stated that it has discontinued the loadshedding schedule that was experienced yesterday, but the situation remains vulnerable.

The reporters are waiting on the arrival of an Eskom official for further info

UPDATE: 7 March, 11am:

Eskom has declared a power emergency and will be embarking on nationwide load shedding for the first time since 2008.

Residents need to be aware that due to the load shedding, security systems and electric fences will be going offline.

According to John October, spokesperson for Dial Direct Insurance, it is a condition in most insurance policies that a house alarm has to be activated at all times when the home is not occupied. This means that, theoretically, if a house is burgled during a power cut then the customer would not benefit from any burglary cover as the alarm would be rendered inoperative. This is why it is important to make sure that home insurance providers do cover break-ins during power outages.

October explained that another unfortunate consequence of power cuts are power surges which can cause sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers, TVs and DVD players, to short-circuit.

He said that the installation of a power surge preventer may minimise or curb damage caused by a power surge, but it is not guaranteed.

“Therefore, most insurance companies insist that customers install a power surge preventer, as in many instances damage may still occur as the power surge may by-pass the protection device, due to the fact that so many of today’s devices are inter-linked,” said October.

UPDATE: 7 March, 8.30am:

There is confusion over the loadshedding schedule after Eskom announced that the power grid was stable for now and that the power emergency has been lifted.

The power utility made the announcement at 10pm in Thursday night, but on Friday morning the loadshedding website stated that the utility was currently in the second phase of loadshedding.

The stage two power cut plan aims at saving up to 2000MW.

On Thursday wide spread areas of Johannesburg were affected. These included Hillbrow, Berea, Houghton, Parktown, Rosebank, Hyde Park, Inanda, Alexandra, Rembrandt Park, Sunningdale, and Lombardy. Residential and commercial areas felt the sting including hospitals and schools, but the etoll gantries on the N1 were apparently functional.

On Friday morning, Johannesburg City Power issued a load shedding schedule as a precaution.

Spokesperson Sol Masolo said: “As we speak, now there is no load shedding. We have the schedule just in case the emergency resumes”.

March 6, 6.30pm:

Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said hospitals are not exempt from load shedding.

“Unfortunately we cannot exempt any customer – even critical life-saving institutions. We do send out word to hospitals to make sure that they have generators that are in good condition, and make them aware of when load shedding will take place.”

Etzinger added that it would be difficult to exempt any customer as load shedding is done in batches.

“If Midrand is affected by load shedding, any hospital in the area will be affected to,” he said.

Hospital general manager Rolien Kuhne said, “[The] hospital has two generators that can fully provide for all of the hospital’s power requirements. The hospital was not affected today.”

Tembisa Hospital was also unaffected by load shedding. Gauteng Health spokesperson Simon Zwane said, “Today Tembisa Hospital was not affected by load shedding but the hospital is equipped with generators that can kick in if there is load shedding.”

Carlswald shopping centre’s Tangled Hair Salon manager Tess Baker said Eskom should load shed at night. “We had to turn away a lot of clients who wanted to do their hair today because of load shedding. There is a generator in the centre but it only turns on lights, we could not use hairdryers and clippers.”

Public relations officer for New Jerusalem Children’s Home, Mpho Sechabela said the staff at the home could not work effectively during load shedding. “Admin staff use laptops and when the power was out they could not work. As a non-governmental organisation we cannot afford to go a day without power. The food in the fridge will go off, but luckily our stove is a gas stove.”

Sechabela said the home does not have a generator. “Due to the load shedding we would like to appeal to businesses and residents to help us buy a generator so that the children and the centre are not so badly affected.”

Midrand SPCA is also battling with load-shedding as general manager Elsje Naicker said the in-house vet had to cancel castration operations due to no power on 6 March. The load-shedding also caused the phone lines to go down, making it difficult for the public to contact the inspectors in case of animal-related emergencies.

Details: For any donations to the New Jerusalem Children’s Home contact 010 224 0458 or to contact Midrand SPCA inspectors: 083 441 1564083 441 1564 or 083 441 1565083 441 1565.