Higher load shedding stages an 'added confidence' grid won't collapse: Ramokgopa
The Minister of Electricity reiterated that it was 'highly improbable' that a total grid collapse was immanent despite the increasingly frequent occurrence of higher stages of load shedding.
JOHANNESBURG - The national power grid is not in danger of collapsing, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has said.
Concerns over Eskom’s ability to provide a reliable power supply in the country were mounting, as the power utility warned it would need to intensify rolling power cuts over the winter months to protect the grid from a complete collapse.
Speaking at a briefing on the implementation of the energy action plan on Friday, Ramokgopa reiterated higher levels of load shedding did not mean the grid was under threat.
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“I must emphasise that if you see stage five, stage six, it doesn’t mean that you are close to a grid collapse. It simply gives you assurance that the system controller is in charge of the system, and, in fact, it should give you additional confidence.
“Of course, we don’t want load shedding, but I’m just saying it’s an instrument at the disposal of the system controller to make sure that we are able to balance supply and demand.”
Ramokgopa said the worst-case scenario would be load shedding intensifying to higher stages if government's interventions failed.
“It is highly improbable – that is the point that we are making. Of course, we do accept that it is inherent in systems of this nature that you can have this catastrophe given, but it is extremely low given the control measures that exist in Eskom.”
