Electricity pylons are pictured near Grootvlei power station in Grootvlei, Mpumalanga. File photo: ALAISTER RUSSELL/SUNDAY TIMES
There are similar origins to the power generation challenges in Europe in that supply has been constrained by a previous reliance on Russian gas, which has further exposed the rapid transition from nuclear , the decline of coal , and generation reliability problems . There was a period early this European winter when half of French nuclear reactors were offline because of age-related technical problems.
By now SA households are equipped with camping stoves and lamps, and the better off have uninterrupted power supply units and inverters, or may even have said goodbye to the grid and gone fully solar. However, there are still things we can learn from the Global North. Faced with power shortages and the risks of low capacity in power generation, Europeans have had a far more visible discussion of how to limit demand — the other side of the equation. Governments have launched campaigns to encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage to assist with both capacity issues and the cost-of-living crisis.