Power woes 'to continue'

Though the electricity emergency announced by Eskom might be over within the next two weeks - when companies shut down for the festive season - South Africa must brace itself for a tight power supply again next year, according to experts.

Yesterday, Eskom extended by another day its emergency measures demanding that heavy industrial power users cut back at least 10% of their electricity usage. Though it expects the problem to be resolved within the next two weeks, analysts believe South Africa will face similar measures in the new year.

"This may seem like a glitch; something temporary, but it's an issue we have been banging on about since 2008, particularly this year," said Peter Attard Montalto, an emerging markets economist at Nomura, an international advisory consultancy based in the UK.

"New generating capacity is probably not coming on stream until the end of 2014 and, as the economy recovers, demand will increase. Equally, as businesses return from Christmas, we will see new spikes in demand and the chances of load-shedding will be more meaningful."

Eskom demanded that some of the 34 biggest power users - including BHP Billiton, Exxaro, Glencore, Sasol and Sappi - cut power in an emergency move on Tuesday and extended the emergency measures yesterday.

Though these measures do not affect residential customers, Eskom has published load-shedding schedules on its website .

"We anticipate that the system will remain extremely tight until Friday [next week]. We are constantly reviewing the situation and will lift the emergency notice once the situation improves," Eskom said yesterday.