Eskom has announced the recommencement of load reduction across the country.
According to the utility, 94% of the countrys overloaded transformers are in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and North West. These areas will be targeted for load reduction.
Load reduction will be implemented during peak times when the overloading of transformers is most likely, that is from 05h00 to 07h00 in the morning and 17h00 to 19h00 in the evening.
The power utility has reiterated that load reduction is not the same as loadshedding. Load reduction is a long-established process that Eskom uses in specific areas when there is sufficient electricity available, but a transformers integrity is at risk due to overloading, whereas load shedding is used when the national grid is constrained, and there is not sufficient capacity to generate electricity to meet demand, the utility says.
The essential difference between the two scenarios is the cause of the power or electricity outage, says Vally Padayachee , an energy expert and former Eskom Executive Manager.
When Eskom Generation lacks sufficient capacity to meet demand nationally, load shedding is used as a last resort to prevent a national blackout and total grid collapse, says Padayachee.
Conversely, load reduction occurs when the local electricity demand exceeds what the local power delivery equipment can handle, often due to grid inadequacies. This measure protects equipment like transformers and substations, as well as people, from potential hazards such as explosions, he explains.
A transformer damaged by overloading can leave an area without power for up to six months, so protecting Eskoms assets is in the best interest of all South Africans, says Monde Bala , Group Executive for Distribution at Eskom.
The national infrastructure has been built to withstand a load based on known demand, but electricity theft overloads and damages the equipment. The winter season has also added to energy demand and resulted in overloading, Bala says.
There are currently 2 111 transformers at risk of damage due to overloading. Over time, Eskom has invested resources and increased capacity to meet the exponential demand in areas prone to overloading. Despite these investments, the demand has continued to grow, rendering the situation unsustainable, Bala says.
This is symptomatic of an impending national crisis, Padayachee says. Although we are seemingly getting a handle on the national load-shedding challenge, many end-use customers in various municipalities across the country whether supplied by municipalities or Eskom will likely continue experiencing rolling localised power outages due to the existence of severely compromised or inadequate local electricity grids, he says.
We are sitting on a time bomb ready to explode. If the government does not step in urgently to address this ageing, compromised, and inadequate grid infrastructure, we face a serious crisis, Padayachee says.
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