We have all learned that South Africa is known for having frequent power blackouts. I found it crazy how they categorize their black outs by stages depending on the lack of power they have for that specific day.
One of the greatest problems they have is they do not know how to predict these blackouts. The source of the problem is their lack of maintenance they have at the power plants. The demand in electricity has gone up and the country really needs to meet the needs of their people, even those in townships.
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-south-africa-electricity-20150312-story.html
Hi Elisa! Thanks for this article on power outages as it will be very helpful for our project. I had no idea that there were stages to categorize blackout severity. I think that we have discussed in our group that we cannot imagine living this way, so I am excited to work with other young leaders in the area and do whatever we can to help!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Excited to see how your group can help :)
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ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea that electricity blackouts were announced in stages in South Africa just like rain/thunderstorm predictions.
ReplyDelete"In February, units generating about one-quarter of the nation’s power broke down, nearly overwhelming the grid."
One-quarter... That's insane. The South African government has long-running infrastructure issues that need to be fixed for a sustainable solution to the electricity crisis (catastrophe). Until that day comes, I hope social entrepreneurship can do some good!
It's scary that the country's growth rate is now only at 2% and Eskom's handling of the energy failures could only push it to the very edge at 1%. This illustrates just how much South Africa's economy is relying on a stable infrastructure right now. Great post, it really emphasizes the importance of what we're trying to accomplish with this project!
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