Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, needs R26 billion rand to stabilise power supply, Mayor Mpho Phalatse said.
However, the city only has R7.7 billion for a budget that includes other infrastructure such as water supply, she said at an energy conference on Monday.
South African cities have been hit by load shedding since 2008 because Eskom, the state power utility, can’t meet demand.
Joburg is positioning itself to become more energy independent, with less reliance on Eskom for our power needs.#JoburgEnergyIndaba pic.twitter.com/oiGd5m2J1c
— Executive Mayor Mpho Phalatse (@mphophalatse1) May 23, 2022
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has repeatedly said that the addition of new generation capacity to the grid is needed to reduce the risk of load shedding.
The country is currently experiencing its third consecutive week of evening load shedding.
"While there may be instances where load shedding might need to be implemented outside of these hours, as far as possible Eskom will endeavour to limit the implementation of load shedding to the evening peak in order to limit the impact of the capacity shortages on the public," the utility said on Sunday.
with Fin24