Until the public is fed decent-quality information, people will be unable to make informed decisions
31 January 2023 - 13:54
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The latest bid window for renewable energy resulted in a miserable 760-odd megawatts in the Gqeberha area because of “grid constraints”. But anyone who understands electrical basics would know this is only an issue if the electricity was being generated in Mpumalanga.
It is not. It doesn’t have to be fed over the grid all the way down to the Eastern Cape. It would be fed in from the Eastern Cape, and actually relieve pressure on the grid. The local grid may need to be upgraded, but that is a different bag of cats. And only if there were increased demands in the Gqeberha area.
Likewise, in the Northern Cape, generating electricity around Upington and to its west and south relieves pressure on the grid between there and Mpumalanga, and the same applies to electricity generated around eThekwini. Interestingly, nobody seems bothered about independent generation in the Cape Town area.
In addition to all this, electricity usage in the country as a whole has actually decreased. Therefore, there are generally few grid constraints.
The other touted figure is that SA is the 12th-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. While that was true when Eskom was generating more electricity than now, we are currently lower down the chain. SA now produces only about 1% of global emissions. That’s less than Australia, which has half our population. According to the head of Audi SA, 90% of our vehicle emissions come from trucks. Apart from the pollution they emit, they cause huge damage to our roads, not to mention the havoc the drivers cause. This is largely a result of Transnet’s failure to deliver a proper rail service.
Until the public is fed a decent quality of information, people will be unable to make informed decisions.
Eric Carter Blairgowrie
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Some basic facts about ‘grid constraints’
Until the public is fed decent-quality information, people will be unable to make informed decisions
The latest bid window for renewable energy resulted in a miserable 760-odd megawatts in the Gqeberha area because of “grid constraints”. But anyone who understands electrical basics would know this is only an issue if the electricity was being generated in Mpumalanga.
It is not. It doesn’t have to be fed over the grid all the way down to the Eastern Cape. It would be fed in from the Eastern Cape, and actually relieve pressure on the grid. The local grid may need to be upgraded, but that is a different bag of cats. And only if there were increased demands in the Gqeberha area.
Likewise, in the Northern Cape, generating electricity around Upington and to its west and south relieves pressure on the grid between there and Mpumalanga, and the same applies to electricity generated around eThekwini. Interestingly, nobody seems bothered about independent generation in the Cape Town area.
In addition to all this, electricity usage in the country as a whole has actually decreased. Therefore, there are generally few grid constraints.
The other touted figure is that SA is the 12th-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. While that was true when Eskom was generating more electricity than now, we are currently lower down the chain. SA now produces only about 1% of global emissions. That’s less than Australia, which has half our population. According to the head of Audi SA, 90% of our vehicle emissions come from trucks. Apart from the pollution they emit, they cause huge damage to our roads, not to mention the havoc the drivers cause. This is largely a result of Transnet’s failure to deliver a proper rail service.
Until the public is fed a decent quality of information, people will be unable to make informed decisions.
Eric Carter
Blairgowrie
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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