Electricity production down

Johannesburg - Estimated production of electricity was 0.7% down in September compared with the same month last year, Statistics SA said on Thursday.

"This isn't good news," Efficient Group economist Dawie Roodt said.

"We should see year-on-year increases of three percent - at least - just to keep up with the economy."

Roodt said the increases ought in fact to be four to five percent to ensure growth.

"This latest figure means that we could have less energy available for the economy.

"One of the explanations for the decrease is that they may have closed down power stations for maintenance work," he added.

Statistics SA said the estimated production of electricity for the third quarter of 2008 decreased by 1.8% compared with the third quarter of 2007.

However, estimated production after seasonal adjustment increased by 1.3 from August to September this year.

Electricity distributed to the provinces decreased by 1.7% for the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period last year, the agency added.

"In the first nine months of 2008, consumption of electricity was affected by numerous factors that led to reduced levels of consumption, such as load shedding and a continuous drive from Eskom in encouraging users to save on electricity consumption," Statistics SA said.

There had been an 8.4% decrease in electricity imports in the first nine months of 2008 compared to 2007 figures, and a 2.8% drop in imports.

The refurbishment of the Eskom Apollo converter station which received imports from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique had been completed, resulting in an increase in imports in recent months.

- SAPA