In a desperate bid to mitigate the effects of the worst load shedding in history, the Western Cape, in the last quarter of the fiscal year, hired three generators at a cost of more than R600 000, said the provincial MEC for infrastructure, Tertuis Simmers.
The three generators were hired specifically for use at Elsenburg to support various operations at its head office, farming and agricultural college.
“In some instances, the hired generators serve to stand in while existing generators are being repaired. Parts are not always immediately available,” Simmers told Weekend Argus.
“In other instances, there are no back-up generators, such as for the industrial kitchen at the agricultural college at Elsenburg which is gas operated, but requires electricity to start it up. The college has hostels to house students on site and they need lighting to study and to be fed.
“We also had to hire a generator to support Elsenburg’s dairy – the cows need to be milked regardless of load shedding,” he said.
The generators it rented are sizeable, ranging from 250KvA to 500KvA.
To buy the 500KvA generator costs in the region of R2.8 million inclusive of VAT and delivery.
"It’s more cost-effective to rent, because the buying cost does not factoring in availability etc ... this while service delivery stands still, and then in any case needing back-up generators should parts break or service be required at more regular intervals due to the more regular stop starts,“ he said.
Simmers said his department was also looking at supplementing mobile back-up generators, while procuring additional generators for Elsenburg in the coming financial year.
In a parliamentary written question and answer sheet, Simmers said his department had incurred other costs related to the maintenance of back-up generators, mechanical repairs due to the frequency of extended load shedding, as well as the cost of diesel.
“The (department) will have spent in the region of R5.1m for diesel for the various back-up generators provided across the general building portfolio from April 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023.
“Over the same period, the department will have incurred an amount of about R633 000 for the hiring of generators to further support various departments’ operational requirements and approximately R1.3m for the procurement of new generators and related equipment,” read his response.
Simmers added that since 2017, the department had installed solar photovoltaic panels on several provincially-owned buildings and sites to supplement electrical supply.
Currently, these installations are grid-tied, meaning that provincial buildings remain on the national power grid.
“There is therefore less demand for Eskom power and enhanced resilience of our infrastructure,” he said.
“The (department’s) most recent solar PV projects include a ground-mounted installation at Elsenburg which is managed by the Department of Agriculture, and the solar PV installation covering the parking area at the Green Building located on the Karl Bremer hospital site in Bellville. These will be completed before the end of March 2023,” he said.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde this week said the province would also look at options like leasing containerised battery systems linked to solar systems.
These could be deployed in towns to reduce the severity of blackouts.
In the meantime, the South African private schools group Curro said it was looking at solar and battery solutions "which could enable our schools to generate and store enough electricity to be self-sufficient".
Weekend Argus