Eskom: the electricity emergency has been quickly forgotten

A decision on a single new nuclear power plant was originally promised for July but will now be only by the end of this year. And no wonder. Even though international demand for power stations may now be falling, nuclear is still frighteningly expensive: SA’s new station could cost as much as double the R120bn suggested earlier this year. - BusinessDay.co.za

clipped from www.businessday.co.za And ironically, perhaps, the more energy-intensive industries cut back on output, the less likely are the voluntary savings that Eskom and the government had asked for in the wake of the January power emergency. Big users were asked to save 10% and the mining industry has made significant progress towards achieving this. But other bulk users such as municipalities have hardly come to the savings party at all. Though there was an initial flurry of energy-saving enthusiasm from consumers and businesses, the emergency has been quickly forgotten, with overall savings at no more than 2% and Eskom seeing the extent of the saving decreasing with each passing month. Nevertheless, slower economic growth in the next couple of years should crimp demand growth. So what does that mean for supply? In the next seven to 10 years, probably nothing.