SA confirms mines to get more power

JOHANNESBURG – The South African government has confirmed it will let mines increase power consumption to 95 per cent from 90 per cent and the plan will be phased in over the next two weeks to avoid worsening an electricity crisis.

“This agreement has been reached to alleviate the heavy disruptive burden and possible large retrenchments,” the mining and minerals department said in a statement. Mines in the world’s top producer of platinum have been operating below full power since outages forced five days of shutdowns in late January, driving up precious metals prices and raising fears of possible job losses and slowing growth.Since then, power utility Eskom has restricted the mines to 90 per cent of their electricity needs, leading most to cut their output forecasts.Over the next two weeks, Eskom will, in consultation with mines, allow an increase up to 260 MW in electricity supply to the mines, the statement said.”The criteria in determining this allocation will include minimising the disruptive impact on the mining industry, job losses and mine safety,” it said.But to ensure the stability of the system, it said Eskom would implement scheduled power cuts, known as load shedding.Although mines have had their power rations increased, other big industries have not.On Wednesday, Eskom said it may delay approval for connecting new construction projects to its grid for up to six months.Projects already cleared – such as those for hosting the 2010 soccer World Cup – would not be affected.The power cuts, the result of years of under spending on generating capacity, have stoked public anger and threats from unions to take to the streets if jobs are lost as a result of the crisis.President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday Eskom must ensure the crisis did not hurt economic growth.Nampa-ReutersMines in the world’s top producer of platinum have been operating below full power since outages forced five days of shutdowns in late January, driving up precious metals prices and raising fears of possible job losses and slowing growth.Since then, power utility Eskom has restricted the mines to 90 per cent of their electricity needs, leading most to cut their output forecasts.Over the next two weeks, Eskom will, in consultation with mines, allow an increase up to 260 MW in electricity supply to the mines, the statement said.”The criteria in determining this allocation will include minimising the disruptive impact on the mining industry, job losses and mine safety,” it said.But to ensure the stability of the system, it said Eskom would implement scheduled power cuts, known as load shedding.Although mines have had their power rations increased, other big industries have not.On Wednesday, Eskom said it may delay approval for connecting new construction projects to its grid for up to six months.Projects already cleared – such as those for hosting the 2010 soccer World Cup – would not be affected.The power cuts, the result of years of under spending on generating capacity, have stoked public anger and threats from unions to take to the streets if jobs are lost as a result of the crisis.President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday Eskom must ensure the crisis did not hurt economic growth.Nampa-Reuters