Blackouts prompt scramble for renewable energy

With the commissioning of additional coal-fired and nuclear plants several years away before they will bring relief to SA's overburdened power system, Eskom is turning to alternatives to bring more power in faster.

Rationing and voluntary target savings, by which industrial customers reduce their consumption in return for compensation at times when Eskom experiences power shortages, are two of the short-term solutions Eskom is considering. But the power utility is also looking at the mass roll-out of solar panel heaters to alleviate the burden on the national grid, and has turned to co-generation projects as a real option to feed power into the national grid.