[imagesource:bloomberg]

The days of Capetonians boasting to citizens of other South African provinces that we enjoy lower levels of load shedding may (regretfully) be over.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has given South Africans a heads up in this regard, explaining that maintenance of the infamous Koeberg Nuclear Power Station is to blame.

The Koeberg station has come to represent all that is wrong with the failing electricity structures of South Africa. After years of on-and-off maintenance, Koeberg Unit 1 was taken offline last year for some much-needed TLC and repairs.

The problem is, South Africans were promised that the station would be brought back online in June 2023. As it ticks into August, Unit 1 remains offline, a huge concern considering that the station’s second unit is promised to be taken offline for repairs during October.

This is all coming to light after Premier Winde met with Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa this week. The minister was tasked with presenting the Western Cape Energy Council with updated information on South Africa’s Energy Action Plan and clearly gave Winde reason to warn South Africans of what may be coming.

Minister Ramokgopa told attendees that he has already sent complaint requests to Eskom in an attempt to figure out what the hold-up is. And as usual, he’s been ‘blueticked’ by the power supplier.

But what does this mean for regular South Africans who just want to be able to boil our kettles?

Well, when it comes to the situation at Koeberg, Winde seems less concerned with things like nuclear fallout (phew) and more worried about what this means for our economy (ouch). Basically, if both Koeberg’s units have to be shut down simultaneously, it’s the Western Cape who’ll be sitting in the dark.

“Every day this process is delayed brings us closer to a catastrophic increase in the severity of blackouts, particularly for the Western Cape, which will be hugely detrimental to our residents and economy,” Winde explained.

Thanks are due to Mr Premier for warning Cape Town citizens, but it’s hard to feel optimistic when we’re facing the darkest nights before the dawn.

As the South African sun moves into spring and begins to melt winter away, maybe our hope lies in exciting solar technology and not our old skedonk of a power station at Koeberg.

[source:businesstech]