Most of the City of Cape Town-supplied customers continue to be load shed on Stage 1 as the City is able to protect its customers from one stage of load-shedding at times due to the deployment of its Steenbras Hydro Pump Station in the off peak times and its gas turbines to assist where at all possible. It is however key that energy usage is reduced for the City to be able to assist its customers.
The City is monitoring the situation closely as it is subject to rapid change. Customers are urged to reduce their usage to reduce the strain on the electricity network and to enable the City to continue protecting customers from load-shedding where possible. Importantly, turn down household geyser temperatures to 60˚ Celsius, switch off pool pumps and switch off electrical equipment at the wall sockets. To avoid power surcharges caused from the electricity coming back on after load-shedding, switch off appliances at the wall sockets prior to load-shedding.
Customers should please note the storm continues to cause outages due to infrastructure damage. Due to the large volume of service requests and the severity of some of the damage, it is taking longer to resolve service requests than usual. We thank customers for their support and understanding. We ask customers to also please trim or remove tree branches that interfere with power cables to reduce the risk of protracted storm-related outages.
The City has deployed extra generation capacity from its Steenbras Hydro Power Plant and has fired up its gas turbines where possible to mitigate load-shedding especially due to the extremely cold weather that has been experienced. Electricity demand thus also remains high due to the cold weather and we advise our customers to please reduce energy.
‘Load-shedding having resumed is the absolute last thing that Cape Town and South Africa needs now. The impact of the extreme load-shedding thus far this year coupled with the national lockdown and COVID-19 regulations is having a profound impact on our economy, our lives and our wellbeing. The City remains absolutely committed to reducing its reliance on Eskom going forward. It has done much work in its fight to procure energy from independent power producers. We are all now especially paying a high price for the delay in allowing municipalities to procure power from producers other than Eskom.
‘Until all the processes have been completed, earmarked to take a number of years, the City will continue to do everything in its power to help Cape Town’s economy and its customers as much as possible.
‘The massive maintenance work on the City’s Steenbras Hydro Pump Station was completed successfully in time for the increased winter energy demand, and in effect the latest round of load-shedding. Due to the increased winter demand and lack of generation capacity from Eskom, the City is using the Steenbras plant primarily at the moment to manage the City’s higher winter demand during the day and off-peak hours. This is helping to mitigate load-shedding somewhat where possible. We are also deploying our gas turbines to reduce the impact of load-shedding on the lower levels especially during the peak hours and given the very cold weather. The City is monitoring the situation closely, and we continue to encourage our customers and residents to please reduce energy usage especially during the peak times in the evenings so that we can continue to help,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.
Steenbras Hydro Pump Station: How it works
- Electricity generated during relatively low-cost off-peak periods is used to pump water from a lower to an upper storage reservoir. During periods of peak demand, the water is released back to the lower reservoir, thereby generating electricity like a conventional hydroelectric power station.
- Hydroelectricity is produced using the gravitational force of falling or flowing water to power an electricity generator.
The Western Cape does not have a big enough body of water to produce the amount of electricity we’d need to meet all of our power needs in Cape Town and surrounds. We do have small hydro generators on schemes like the Steenbras scheme. This is why the City can sometimes avoid load-shedding, or remain on a lesser stage than Eskom has requested.
Steenbras scheme facts
- The Steenbras power station was the first hydro-electric pumped storage scheme in Africa when it was built more than 30 years ago. Each of the station’s four 45 000 kW generator units acts as a pump-motor in one mode and a turbine-generator in the other.
Adopt smarter energy use habits in the home:
- Turn the geyser down to 60°C.
- Switch off electrical appliances at the wall sockets when not in use to reduce energy.
- Use less hot water.
- Shower instead of bathing. You will save up to 80% in water and use five times less electricity than heating bath water if you take a short shower.
- Dry your laundry using sunshine where possible and try not to use the tumble dryer. For rainy days, use drying racks indoors.
- Replace regular bulbs with energy-saving ones such as LEDs that use six times less electricity.
- Seal gaps around windows and doors to keep heat from escaping and cold drafts from breezing in.
- Use a stove plate that’s most similar to the size of your pot. An electric stove uses up to 40% of its heat when the pot is too small, which means you waste electricity. If you own an insulation cooker, bring your food to a boil then place it in there. The retained heat slow-cooks, saving up to 60% on energy.
For more information on how to reduce usage, please visit www.savingelectricity.org.za
Reduce risk of nuisance tripping
Residents are encouraged to reduce the risk and occurrence of nuisance tripping by switching off electrical appliances, prior to load-shedding and leaving one light on to indicate the return of the supply.
If customers experience an outage at an unscheduled time, or the electricity supply remains off for longer than the period specified in the schedule, please SMS the details to the City’s Technical Operations Centre on 31220.
Please continue to follow the City of Cape Town on Facebook and Twitter for Eskom load-shedding alerts. City-supplied customers will be directed to the City’s website on www.capetown.gov.za for updates. Eskom customers should visit www.loadshedding.eskom.co.za