Eskom

Eskom is a South African electricity company, which was founded in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission ( ESCOM ), it is also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie ( EVKOM ) known. The foundation was decided in 1922 with the " Electricity Act " by the South African government.

The company is the largest producer of electricity in Africa and the seventh- largest electricity producer in the world, we look at the installed capacity by power plants, according to sales the ninth largest in the world. In 2007, Eskom was more than 190 million tons of CO2 is the second largest producer in the world.

Eskom operates a number of large power plants, including the Kendal Power Station, which is the largest coal-fired power plant in the world for performance, as well as the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, the only nuclear power station on the African continent. In addition, Eskom operates the Cahora Bassa HVDC, a high-voltage direct current transmission line between Mozambique and the region around Johannesburg.

The impact of privatization of the group are considered critically Crisis Sale in the documentary.

Power plants

Hard coal

Nuclear power station

Hydropower plants

Storage power plants

Gas turbines

Wind power

Planned power plants

Power off

The largest electricity provider in Africa could not generate enough power in the spring of 2008. The culprit is - according to discussions - the planning of the South African government that it had not considered important enough to support Eskom earlier. Because not enough power is available, it will be rationed at various intervals and zones, resulting in daily two - to three-hour blackouts ( "load shedding "). Eskom wants or has already committed the mines of the country to save about 10 % of its own energy needs. However, the mines can no longer work effectively and a fall of about 20 % of the funding it will thus probably arise because 50 % of the energy is already needed to maintain the infrastructure. The rest will be used to promote yourself. So that means a saving in power consumption of 10 % at the same time a loss of 20 % of the funding. This was the conclusion of a radio debate ( Classic FM, South Africa) on 26 February 2008. A short-term solution is not in sight and you would still have around 2012 to power supply problems.

Paradoxically, however, Eskom had an agreement with the neighboring countries of Botswana and Mozambique closed in January 2008 in order to provide at least 1040 MW of power.