20 February 2006
The Department of Minerals and Energy, Department of Public Enterprises and
Eskom met today to discuss the recent power outages, especially in the Western
Cape. At that meeting, Eskom Chief Executive, Mr Thulani Gcabashe, gave
assurance that the full power will be restored, at the latest by Wednesday.
What happened at Western Cape recently is a technical problem related to the
unavailability of one unit in Koeberg Power Station. Normally the other unit
together with power generated upcountry would be sufficient to meet the
electricity demand in the Western Cape. On top of that, government initiatives
are at an advanced stage to bring an additional 2 000 MW through Independent
Power Producers (IPPs) and Eskom. These power stations will be located at
Atlantis, Saldanha and in Port Elizabeth. In fact only two weeks ago the âsod
turningâ ceremony for the Atlantis site took place. This project is being fast
tracked to ensure that it will be ready for operation during the first half of
2007.
âIt is therefore disingenuous for Adv Schmidt of the Democratic Alliance in
his statement to take a technical and operational glitch in our electricity
infrastructure and turn into political mudslinging. In fact he was party to,
and fully supported the initiative by government to revise the regulatory
framework with a view to addressing the anticipated increase in the demand of
electricity actuated by the unprecedented economic growth this country
currently enjoys,â said the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mrs Lindiwe
Hendricks.
âOur plan to invest in additional capacity is predicated upon a sound and
systematic long term plan which seeks to avoid the over â investment, and high
electricity prices as experienced in the eighties. The issue of security of
supply is adequately covered in our long term investment plan, which the
government is spending R93 billion on in the next five years alone,â she
said.
âComplete deregulation in the electricity industry has been discredited all
over the world; the California, Ontario, Singapore and Northern Europe power
crisis being classical examples of what his version of deregulation could lead
to. We have had first hand experience of what happens when government leaves
security of supply in the hands of private sector, with recent fuel shortages
in our country,â she said.
Enquiries:
Yvonne Mfolo
Chief Director Communication
Tel: (012) 317 8086
Fax: (012) 317 8156
Cell: 082 459 6862
E-mail: yvonne.mfolo@dme.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
20 February 2006
