Eskom 'hiding something'
2006-02-20 22:41
Michele O' Connor
Cape Town - The City of Cape Town attacked Eskom openly and stated that the energy utility was silent about the truth of the power dilemma confronting the Western Cape now.
It also came to light that an "unusual incident" took place at Koeberg at the weekend, placing it in a state of emergency.
City council public lighting manager Charles Kadalie told Die Burger on Monday Eskom was arrogant and "hiding something".
He said Eskom did as it pleased because the power utility had the monopoly on power in South Africa.
"In the past few days, Eskom has lost its credibility as a power supplier. We can't believe Eskom any more.
"They change their plans every five minutes.
"After a meeting, the city council said on Monday that Eskom now demanded an electricity saving of 35% or 500MW.
"Saving the 500MW means that an unspecified number of suburbs will now be without any power for as long as five hours."
Thwarted Cape Town's plans
Kadalie added that because of Eskom's inability and indecisiveness, the city council could no longer announce lists of times and suburbs that would be affected by the power interruptions.
"On Monday, Eskom thwarted all the city council's plans.
"Now, we'll have to manage the power interruptions as they happen. This situation puts the whole Western Cape in a very poor position.
"It is detrimental to the province's economy and, on the eve of the municipal elections, it could have far-reaching consequences for the provincial government," he said.
He added that Eskom had just informed them that Koeberg would be fully operational again only after five days.
'Far more behind the blackouts'
"Eskom is hiding something. The power giant is very selective with its answers.
"There is far more behind these power interruptions than they admit to," said Kadalie.
An informed source close to Eskom in Johannesburg told Die Burger on Monday that Koeberg had been in grave danger at the weekend because of faults on the national power network.
For many hours, Koeberg had received its power from diesel generators and, in this time, the station went into a "state of emergency".
Protective mechanisms kicked in
Eskom spokesperson Tony Stott said Unit 2 had tripped out at the weekend because of faults on the national overhead powerlines.
"Unit 2's protective mechanisms kicked in and switched off the unit.
"For safety's sake, Koeberg got power from diesel generators because the Akasia station's power supply was too unstable," he said.
He added that Koeberg's safety-control centre came into effect at the weekend because an "unusual incident" had taken place at Koeberg.
Stott said Unit 2 would now, after the interruptions, probably be switched off completely for general maintenance.
"But, Eskom has still not taken a definite decision."
Mist and damp cause short-circuits
Cape Town electrical engineer Hein Swart said pollution and mist could cause short-circuits on the overhead powerlines.
"Dust and soot collect on the insulators along these powerlines. The mist and damp cause short-circuits that trip out the power," he said.
Energy engineer Andrew Kenny said the country's power supply would not improve.
"I've got bad news: it's only going to get worse," he said.
Kenny said the latest power failures in the Western Cape were due to a severe shortage of maintenance on the country's overhead powerlines.
"Eskom ought to have known the recent veld fires on the Highveld would leave dust and soot deposits on the insulators.
Full power by Wednesday
"They should have been hosed clean with high-pressure water immediately," said Kenny.
By late on Monday, Stott had not yet commented on this.
Eskom chief executive Thulani Gcabashe gave the assurance on Monday that the power supply would be fully restored by Wednesday.
He and top officials of mineral and energy affairs and public enterprises held a meeting in Pretoria until late on Monday afternoon.
- Die Burger