'Power prices to triple'

Vereeniging - The cost of electricity in South Africa is likely to triple over the next decade as Eskom needs to invest heavily in alternative sources of energy with a view to climate change.

So says the power utility, South Africa's biggest polluter, in a report forming part of the National Business Initiatives's Carbon Disclosure Project.

It was a willing participant in the project, and its report was attached to that of the top 100 companies (listed on the JSE) that were involved this year. One of the biggest threats to power generation in the short to medium and long-term, it says, is the availability of water.

Eskom is busy implementing short-term measures to save water through dry cooling, but the process in fact releases more greenhouse gases.

Cheap electricity has gone for ever, says the company.

"In the past Eskom generated the cheapest electricity in the world, and now the company is struggling with capacity problems, especially in regard to the supply [of coal] because of, into alia, the tremendous economic growth South Africa has experienced over the past ten years.

"We therefore expect the price of electricity to triple in the coming decade."

Eskom reckons that it is necessary to have a greater variety in its energy mix, which will also help reduce its carbon footprint.

Renewable energy sources that Eskom is currently considering include wind, solar energy, ocean currents, biomass and hydroelectricity. Eskom's wind and solar projects are the most advanced at this stage. The introduction of clean technology for the burning of coal forms part of the construction plans for Eskom's new power stations.

The electricity giant says the greenhouse gases it released into the atmosphere this year amounted to 223.6 metric tonnes, compared to 208.9 last year.

Incite Sustainability, the compiler of the report, points out that Eskom's carbon footprint is almost three times that of South Africa's second-biggest polluter, Sasol.

- Sake24