(click on the image to enlarge)One of the first words that I've learnt in South Africa was "load shedding".
The country's power shortages have been the result of problems with Eskom's (the South African electricity provider) generating plants, negative weather conditions, distribution network problems and voltage instability on the transmission network. On top of that, Eskom has just 7 percent emergency power reserved for emergencies (vs a minimum of 15 percent reserve power for other providers)
In Jo'burg, the load shedding took place on a rotational basis. The aim is to limit the power down to two hours per area. The load shedding is going to be a part of life for South Africans until the 2010 World Cup, and I can imagine that will cause lots of trouble all round.
My colleague arrived in Jo'burg yesterday and he was delayed at the airport because the non-essential electrical equipments were turned off. He struggled through customs and he thought it was all over. Then he found out that the display board for the luggage claim was off and it took him ages to find his luggage! On the way to the client site, the traffic was at a standstill because the lights were out and there were chaos at intersections!
I am so used to having electricity at a flick of a switch and it's time like this that I feel I shouldn't be taking electricity for granted.
The country's power shortages have been the result of problems with Eskom's (the South African electricity provider) generating plants, negative weather conditions, distribution network problems and voltage instability on the transmission network. On top of that, Eskom has just 7 percent emergency power reserved for emergencies (vs a minimum of 15 percent reserve power for other providers)
In Jo'burg, the load shedding took place on a rotational basis. The aim is to limit the power down to two hours per area. The load shedding is going to be a part of life for South Africans until the 2010 World Cup, and I can imagine that will cause lots of trouble all round.
My colleague arrived in Jo'burg yesterday and he was delayed at the airport because the non-essential electrical equipments were turned off. He struggled through customs and he thought it was all over. Then he found out that the display board for the luggage claim was off and it took him ages to find his luggage! On the way to the client site, the traffic was at a standstill because the lights were out and there were chaos at intersections!
I am so used to having electricity at a flick of a switch and it's time like this that I feel I shouldn't be taking electricity for granted.
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