South Africa Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Energy crisis ==== {{Main|South African energy crisis}} [[File:Kusilekragsentrale, Mpumalanga, 2019, a.jpg|thumb|The [[Kusile Power Station]] was built as a response to the energy crisis. When fully operational it will be the 4th largest [[coal-fired power station]] in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Engineering News – Kusile power plant project, South Africa – update |url=https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/print-version/kusilepower-plant-project-south-africa-update-2023-02-24#:~:text=The%20Kusile%20power%20station%20project,power%20station%20in%20the%20world. |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=Engineering News |language=en}}</ref>]]Due to severe mismanagement and [[Corruption in South Africa|corruption]] at Eskom, the company is R392bn ($22bn) in debt and is unable to meet the demands of the South African power grid.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Problems at Eskom Identified as a Main Cause of SA's Energy Crisis |url=https://caes.ukzn.ac.za/news/problems-at-eskom-identified-as-a-main-cause-of-sas-energy-crisis/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Due to this, Eskom implemented [[loadshedding]], which is periodically switching off electricity to specific power grids in specific time frames. In South Africa, load shedding is done to prevent a failure of the entire system when the demand for electricity strains the capacity of Eskom's power generating system. Load shedding is characterized by periods of widespread national-level rolling blackouts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Eskom & The Government Can Put An End To Loadshedding in South Africa |url= https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/blogs/53187/how-the-government-eskom-can-put-an-end-to-load-shedding/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website= Greenpeace Africa |language=en}}</ref> Eskom's latest energy availability factor (EAF) data reveals that mismanagement, corruption, poor maintenance, and sabotage caused power station breakdowns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dailyinvestor.com/south-africa/14194/eskoms-coal-fired-power-station-breakdown-lie/|title=Eskom's coal-fired power station breakdown lie – Daily Investor}}</ref> In 2023 the [[South African National Defence Force|South African Military]] was deployed to protect Eskom's power stations from sabotage and theft.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Army guards four Eskom power stations |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-17/south-africa-deploys-army-at-four-eskom-power-stations |access-date=2023-04-02 |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=17 December 2022 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> In 2007 Eskom started the construction of the "[[Kusile Power Station|Kusile]]" and "[[Medupi Power Station|Medupi]]" power stations, the two mega power stations will be the largest dry-cooled power stations in the world and among the largest power stations in the world scheduled for completion in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=David |date=2021-08-17 |title=Explosion at Eskom's New Power Unit 'Medupi' May Push South Africa Blackouts to Record |url=https://auctusmetals.com/explosion-at-eskoms-new-power-unit-medupi-may-push-south-africa-blackouts-to-record/ |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Auctus Metals: Expert Precious Metal Portfolio Management Services |language=en-US}}</ref> However, these power stations have never met their deadline date with only half of their six units completed and operational mainly caused by long delays and massive cost overruns exceeding more than R300 billion ($16bn) for the two power stations combined, and are only expected to be completed by 2024 or 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-29 |title=Energy crisis: Another R33-billion needed to complete Medupi and Kusile |url=https://mg.co.za/news/2022-09-29-energy-crisis-another-r33-billion-needed-to-complete-medupi-and-kusile/ |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page