The trend off the grid is accelerating, but complete independence is still a way out

South Africans are miserable because of lack of electricity many years. These have gotten so bad that by the end of 2022, the country’s electricity company, Eskom, had only half of its generating capacity works.

This forced Eskom to escalate rotating power cuts. In mid-January 2023, users typically do not have electricity for 8 to 10 hours a day. The situation is unlikely to improve much in the short and medium term. It is expected that this year, especially as electricity demand increases in winter, the country’s electricity supply will decrease to sometimes there may be only electricity for 12 hours a day.

The situation is also not expected to improve in the medium to long term. The National Electric Company is in a state of precarious financial situation.

As a result, South Africans are increasingly forced to explore alternative sources of electricity. The words big companies to small households, entities are even looking at whether it is possible to completely disconnect from the Eskom grid and produce all electricity in the home.

Fifteen years ago, South Africans had access to abundant electricity in some of the cheapest In the world. But since then, electricity prices have skyrocketed on average four times the inflation rate.

Factories, mines, farms, businesses and individuals are now choosing to reduce their reliance on Eskom’s network by supplementing their power with an in-house generation system. While this reduces the demand for power supplies for Eskom, the extent to which this has occurred so far is not sufficient to significantly reduce outages. Building Larger private solar plantwas initiated by a number of larger entities, as well as More and more interested in rooftop solar in residential areas, will gradually be felt. But this also won’t end the power cuts entirely.

Some entities can go so far as to completely cut themselves off from Eskom. How feasible is this?

Obstacles

Living without being connected to the national grid is nothing new for many South Africans. The apartheid government deliberately slowed down the electrification of black neighborhoods and especially rural areas of the country. In places with electricity far from urban centers, much of it was arranged for the benefit of mining operations and the white farming community.

In the 1990s under the new democratic government, Eskom made a concerted effort to expand its supplies and services to some of the most remote rural areas. This has received many compliments and even brought Financial Times Global Energy Awards. As a result, the majority of the country’s population began to have access to unlimited electricity at that time. It is also relatively cheap.

But this had unintended consequences. Even as individuals felt intrigued by the carbon-free renewable energy concept, the simplicity of sourcing reliable, low-cost energy from Eskom made all the alternatives available. becomes uncompetitive.

The second major obstacle is that until about ten years ago, solar energy was very expensive. Thereafter, costs fell dramatically from 2011 to 2021: in line with international trends, by coefficients 10.

Eskom power cuts are often accompanied by big price increaseand the fall in the price of solar along with better storage options has completely changed the equation.

alternatives

Three on-site power options are briefly discussed.

diesel generator: This age-old technology has been popular in rural communities and has been adopted by many households and businesses during previous power cuts. But the diesel option isn’t cheap, and fuel can fluctuate in price. In addition, these generators require maintenance, they tend to be noisy and emit smoke.

Biogas: This is created from rotting agricultural leftovers or organic waste collected in municipal landfills. South Africa’s agricultural sector produces much of the fuel for this technology, so it has the potential to be more widely adopted in farming communities. But it is not practical for residential and business use.

Solar installation on site: South Africa has a lot of sunshine. Also, solar panel prices have dropped massively over the past decade. Efficient large-scale battery storage options are also becoming increasingly possible. The persistent downside of solar installations is that they won’t overcome lingering clouds.

The initial impetus for the big move to rooftop solar has been provided by large businesses that have the financial ability to invest the money Comprehensive private solar farm. These include mines, factories, shopping malls and agricultural real estate. These businesses hope to recoup their investment in just a few years.

Smaller entities, including typical households, are starting to follow this trend.

Escape from the net, or not

Although it is theoretically possible to install enough Solar power panels and battery storage to be able to see a household through a week without sun, this is still far from a financially optimal solution.

People who have invested in solar capacity in their homes continue to use Eskom electricity during periods when there is no or enough solar power. Their main purpose is to reduce electricity bills and have some backup power during a temporary blackout from Eskom.

In theory, the number of panels and the battery capacity could be increased until power could be available for several days. In this way, they can overcome persistent cloudy conditions. But it is very expensive to buy equipment.

However, South Africa is a country with unusually high hours of sunshine. This could tempt those who can handle occasional power outages to abandon the Eskom grid entirely, especially if punitive tariffs are imposed on those who only occasionally seek to source electricity. Eskom backup power.

Medium and large companies require uninterrupted power However, it is possible to choose a self-created combination model electricity with Eskom backup. This trend has already begun and will grow. But it is clear that the pattern of reliance on Eskom in the past will change forever.

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