Light boost for Cape

This is an effort by the department of minerals and energy, in partnership with Eskom and bulb manufacturing company Osram, to address some of the power failure problems and to encourage conservation of energy.

More than 500 million CFLs would be distributed in Cape Town soon, said Minerals and Energy Minister Lindiwe Hendricks.

According to manufacturers of CFLs, the bulbs use 25% of the electricity that's required by traditional bulbs, and produce the same amount of required light.

If properly used, some of these bulbs can last up to seven years.

Speaking at the launch of Energy Efficiency Month on Tuesday, Hendricks called on communities in other provinces to begin to replace the traditional standard incandescent light bulbs with the "energy saving" CFLs.

Hendricks said the distribution of the CFLs would help in addressing some of the power failure problems in Cape Town and surrounding areas.

"This will contribute to alleviating some of the problems experienced with the Koeberg Power Station being out of commission for repairs for approximately nine months.

"It is anticipated that this will lower the peak demand by approximately 100 megawatts, which is significant as one of the two Koeberg units can supply 800 megawatts," said the minister.

Hendricks also urged Cape Town residents to use electricity and energy efficiently and to keep any device that uses electricity off when not in use.

Household and business owners countrywide are also advised to install solar water heaters instead of using electricity to heat the water.

The minister said the country was entering a phase of power supply shortage due to high demand from both businesses and households, and urged people to be "mindful of energy conservation in this short term hurdle".

Motorists on national roads are also advised to drive "efficiently" at a reasonably low speed so as to save fuel.

The minister said this would save the country more than R4bn on the cost of fuel annually. - BuaNews