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by rohor on December 31, 2007, 05:27:01 PM 13398 Views | 28 Replies
From what I know, the electricity load shedding that is now all too common, is as a result of a maximum demand, that occurs at specific times of the day (peak periods) and which only occur for a short period.
This would mean that Eskom will either be building new power stations, or refurbishing old power stations, just to satisfy a spike in demand for a short period in a day, while the rest of the day, such capacity would not actually be needed.
In an townhouse that I had in 1994, it was found that the developer installed the wrong (too small) cable for the main supply, and as a result, the main electrical breaker was lower in capacity that it should have been. In winter, if I had a heater on, and I was cooking with all four plates on, and the geyser just happened to kick in, then the main breaker would trip the whole house.
Always needed to switch off the heater while cooking to prevent this, if I remembered.
Theoretically the correct solution was to rewire the mains to increase the capacity to the standard that it should have been.
While getting a quote from an electrician, he advised of a far simpler and cheaper solution, which in effect was a form of automatic load shedding.
He installed a small inexpensive (switching) device in the electricity panel, that automatically switched off the geyser, if three or more plates of the stove were on. I think he referred to it as a "load sensing relay".
Bearing in mind that the stove plates are also not always on at the same time, so the geyser would only get automatically switched off for seconds at a time, and then automatically back on again.
But it worked perfectly. I never had another trip again, and due to the short periods of time that the geyser gets switched off, I was also never without hot water.
With the rate of residential development, I believe that the load on Eskom is quite influenced by this, and...
by snoopy_inc on October 11, 2007, 08:50:01 AM 7880 Views | 10 Replies
Information on Load Shedding
In the event of Eskom experiencing a generation shortage on the National grid and in order to prevent instability and a total blackout, municipalities throughout the country have been requested to shed a percentage of their non-critical load. eThekwini Electricity is participating in this program have generated the following schedule that will be implemented in this event. Areas selected for these outages are detailed below. The outages are expected to last for approximately two hours at a time. eThekwini Electricity will endeavour to notify customers in advance of these interruptions.
eThekwini Municipality's Head of Electricity, Mr Sandile Maphumulo, explained that the shedding not only eased national capacity problems but prevented widespread outages that had potential to cause a city-wide blackout.
Power Alert Messages Eskom’s Spokesman encouraged all consumers to please assist in turning off all non-essential equipment during this time.
Power Alert messages will be flighted on television. The alerts have four status levels -- green, orange, red and brown.
Green indicates limited strain on the national supply. Orange indicates an electricity strain -- consumers are prompted to switch off non-essential appliances such as tumble dryers and dishwashers. Red indicates an increased strain on the power supply with consumers prompted to switch off stoves, microwaves, kettles and unnecessary lights. Brown indicates significant strain & that load-shedding is in progress in parts of the country - consumers are asked to switch off everything that is not absolutely essential, including geysers.
In Durban, eThekwini Electricity has a scheduled program to switch off "blocks" of the region's mainly residential loads. All Load-Shedding is done by eThekwini Electricity at the request of Eskom depending on supply &...
by snoopy_inc on October 09, 2007, 11:24:56 AM 3584 Views | 0 Replies
Hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup will present the South African hospitality industry with an ideal opportunity to showcase the country's vibrant and growing tourism sector, delegates heard at the inaugural Hospitality Investment Conference Africa in Cape Town.
"It's a perfect opportunity to showcase developments in the industry and to showcase the country," Interval International's Europe, Middle East and Africa managing director David Clifton said at the Arabella Sheraton Grand on Tuesday.
Interval is a multinational company that arranges vacation exchanges for timeshare owners, while Clifton has been in the industry since the 1970s.
"[There will be] millions of tourists visiting and the World Cup will give us an opportunity to show them that the government and the community can deliver."
Addressing the conference, organised by the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA), Clifton described the tourism sector as undergoing a major revitalisation and the effects thereof would spill over into the country in general.
"South Africa is ready for the new era as there is an emerging middle class who want quality and higher-end products," he said.
Clifton said the hospitality industry was undergoing a major shift to the mixed use of hotels, where there is fractional as well as timeshare ownership within a high-quality hotel group.
"Hotel companies you're familiar with will be regenerating products or bringing new products into great locations."
A trend has also developed among "baby boomers" - the generation who are 60 or turning 60 at the moment - who are seeking holidays that offer more city and cultural life as opposed to beach holidays.
Clifton said while beach destinations remained the number one request from consumers, there was an increase in those seeking shorter breaks closer to the city.
by snoopy_inc on October 09, 2007, 11:14:30 AM 3805 Views | 0 Replies
South Africa hosts the second annual India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit on 17 October, with the parties aiming to improve trilateral trade from the current level of between US$6-billion and $7-billion to $10-billion within the next few years.
A business forum will form a major component of events leading up to the one-day summit, with over 200 businesspeople from the three countries to attend discussion groups at the Sandton Convention Centre on 15 and 16 October.
"IBSA is about business," said head of South African Foreign Affairs' Asia and Middle East section Jerry Matjila. "IBSA is about unlocking the potential of the south."
Matjila said the forum provided companies with an opportunity to form trilateral partnerships and joint ventures, to exploit opportunities in the transport, maritime and aviation sector.
He added that increased volumes of air traffic between South Africa and India had resulted in Indian-based Jet Airways announcing plans to start a service between the two countries, and that the government hoped it would be the first of many.
Other discussions at the form will include technology, academia and a women's forum focussing on gender economic inclusivity. A Parliamentary forum has also been scheduled, and will be attended by members of the three countries' Parliaments.
Feedback from the forums will be handed to President Thabo Mbeki, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, meeting for the summit at the Presidential guesthouse in Pretoria on 17 October.
Matjila added that the three heads of state would most likely sign six agreements during the summit, related to public administration, higher education, health and medicines, social development, energy and on cultural cooperation.
Also on the agenda for the summit is the IBSA Fund, to which each member state contributes...
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