Cape Town - Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba says the country will not experience power cuts similar to those witnessed three years ago due to electricity generation shortages.
"Eskom has instituted a quarterly power system alert briefing to the public and has indicated that whilst the system is tight, it envisages being able to mitigate any power supply shortages this winter," said Gigaba.
But he noted the "tightness of the system and the need to remain vigilant and redouble our efforts to ensure that our current generating capacity is maximized in the face of a constrained system."
Gigaba was responding to questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly on whether he envisaged power cuts similar to those of 2008 and whether he planned to implement any saving mechanisms.
The Freedom Front Plus also echoed the same sentiments, asking him whether he had plans to prevent load shedding this winter.
The minister said that much needed to be done on the energy efficiency and demand side.
He highlighted that "a small contribution to reducing electricity usage through more efficient practices by each consumer would yield significant benefits in terms of system stability and security of electricity supply."
Eskom was currently running an intensive energy saving campaign - the 49 million campaign - which is aimed at voluntary participation by all South Africans to utilise electricity more efficiently, he said.
This would reduce the current levels of electricity consumption in support of the electricity supply security.
Gigaba said that Eskom had "interruptible contracts" with its big customers to curtail their power supply during periods of shortages.
The power utility also had a programme to "buy-back" capacity from certain qualifying and contracted customers during times of need.
The minister said there were "no immediate plans to place quotas on the direct users of electricity."
But he added that "a mandatory energy conservation scheme, which would seek to impose certain efficiency/savings requirements on power users is under development and a broad consultation is in progress."
Among Eskom's several interventions to prevent load shedding, the company had commissioned 315 megawatts additional capacity from its return-to-service (RTS) programme. Modifications to one of Eskom's generators had yielded an additional 30 megawatt capacity.
"Eskom has also highlighted that the risks to the system are set to increase as we go forward until the delivery of power from the first unit of Medupi Power Station and that the contribution by every South African to use electricity more efficiently is needed to ensure security of electricity supply in the medium term," said Gigaba.
