Blackouts Are Back: South African electricity distribution is “highly inefficient”

Municipalities have spent too little to maintain systems they use to route Eskom’s power to customers on concern the assets may be taken away under a national plan to consolidate power distribution. - Bloomberg

NVDL: So the big aluminium smelters are no longer a problem...or the mines. The infrastructure is decrepit, but municipalities dare not spend money on upgrades for fear that they may run out. Let's hope the recession outlasts the distribution crisis, or - with demand ramping up - we'd really be in trouble.

clipped from www.bloomberg.com March 3 (Bloomberg) -- South Africa may face a repeat of last year’s blackouts because of a 27 billion-rand ($2.6 billion) backlog of investment in electricity distribution, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said. While the country is boosting power-generation capacity, “we dare not forget the imminent distribution network crisis,” the minister told reporters in Johannesburg today. She also said legislators may decide “soon” whether to approve a proposed constitutional amendment that would transfer power-distribution responsibilities to six regional authorities. The country is not yet “out of the woods” in terms of power-generation shortages, Sonjica said, reiterating remarks made Jan. 23. Eskom is investing about 343 billion rand over five years to build new plants and revive old ones.