Energy crisis 'can be overcome'
2008-02-08 11:34
Cape Town - South Africa's energy emergency can be overcome in a "relatively short period" and should be used to become more energy efficient, President Thabo Mbeki said in his State of the Nation address on Friday.
"Let us therefore use this emergency to put in place the first building blocks of the essential energy efficient future we dare not avoid," he said.
He apologised to South Africans for the national emergency and thanked them for their "resilience and forbearing".
Eskom, he said, was "working furiously" to ensure the introduction of co-generation projects as a matter of urgency.
"We have emergency task teams dealing with... coal quality and supply with the coal mining industry and we are working to fast track the approval and construction of gas turbine projects."
Era of cheap electricity over
The situation had precipitated the realisation that the era of cheap electricity was at an end. Despite this, and given the country's large base of installed generation capacity, South Africa would remain one of the few economies with affordable electricity for a long time.
He quoted Anglo American chief executive Cynthia Carroll as saying that she did not regard the situation here as a disaster, and that there were similar pressures on the company's projects in Chile and Brazil.
Mbeki outlined the reasons for the crisis and government's response plan, saying the task now was to lead the campaign for energy efficiency.
He called for the naming and shaming of those government buildings which did not reduce their electricity consumption.
The crisis had led "some elsewhere in the world" to question whether the country would be able to host the Fifa confederations cup in 2009, and the World Cup in 2010.
"I have absolutely no doubt that we will honour our undertaking to Fifa and the world community... to create all the necessary conditions for the hosting of the best ever Fifa soccer world cup tournament."
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's budget speech would outline the government's support for its energy efficiency campaign and Eskom's build programme, he said.
- SAPA