SA shortfalls worsen local power crisis
Friday, May 17, 2013
On Wednesday, BPC officials and other energy sources told BusinessWeek that the load shedding programme, initiated in February, had deepened, widened and become more erratic due to unstable supplies from Eskom in South Africa.
Current local demand is estimated at 550 megawatts (MW), with local generation hovering between 260 and 300 MW from two power peaking plants in Orapa and Matshelagabedi as well as one unit at Morupule B.The balance is sourced from Eskom under a contract for 100MW firm and another 200 MW non-firm meaning it is available only when Eskom has catered for South African needs.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...