There’s an immediate, least-cost effective way to ease loadshedding if South Africans can stand together to save as much electricity as possible, to ease the excessive pressure on the grid.
This is the message from the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), who is issuing a national appeal for all South Africans to consider behaviour changes in the same way as Capetonians did when they came together just a few years ago to implement maximum water saving measures to avoid Day Zero, when the taps were predicted to run dry.
“Many people underestimate the power of individual roles in the saving of electricity when it comes to helping ease pressure on the national electricity grid,” says SANEDI General Manager for Energy Efficiency & Corporate Communications, Barry Bredenkamp. “Energy efficiency remains the easiest and least-cost way to assist and it has multiple other benefits. It will save households and businesses money; reduces the amount of expensive new electricity generation required by the country; lowers carbon emissions; and helps the country to meet its international commitments to combat climate change.” SANEDI, which undertakes energy efficiency initiatives on behalf of the government, says it is understandable that continued load shedding for increasingly extended periods has made people angry and frustrated, and left many with a feeling of hopelessness. “The situation has reached a point where South Africans need to stand together and do their best to reduce our energy demand by saving as much electricity as possible,” says Bredenkamp. “We urge South Africans to also recognise that Eskom is doing its utmost to restore power and that, like us, no one at Eskom wants to live without a consistent supply of electricity.”
