South Africa has faced an energy crisis from as early as 2007 and since then, it has been a challenge for South African businesses and households to work around consistent rolling blackouts or load shedding.
One of the main contributors to this energy crisis is South Africa’s state-owned power utility company, Eskom, in addition to several other parliamentarians and a lack of independent power producers.
In 2021, South Africa finds itself in the fifth period of the energy crisis and compromised electricity supply. With the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic slowdown, load shedding was suspended because there were reduced demands for electricity to run various industries.
However, as lockdown levels and restrictions were eased and the economy could restart, the electricity demand placed significant pressure on the power grid, leading to the reintroduction of load shedding.
After the national municipal elections, Eskom announced that stage 4 of load shedding would commence from November 5 because of issues that were experienced at five of its fleet of power stations.
How has load shedding affected Generator sales?
For South African businesses and households to survive, consistent electricity is needed. This has increased suppliers that offer backup batteries, solar panels, and generators for sale across South Africa.
There are inherent benefits that can be derived from owning a portable generator or a standby generator, these are:
• They provide reliable emergency power that is readily available when the connection to the national grid is lost, ensuring that appliances and machinery do not lose power when it is needed the most.
• They do not have expensive upfront costs and if they are maintained frequently, they can last for years to come.
• Generators can be sued to power essential tools, applications, and equipment.
• There is a wide range of different types of generators available at competitive prices from reputable suppliers that offer generators for sale.
Industries in South Africa that benefit the most from backup power
Industries across South Africa need reliable power to ensure that operations can run smoothly, especially considering that the economy and businesses are on the mend after facing severe impacts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
Industries in South Africa that rely heavily on power, and who would subsequently benefit the most from generators include:
• Manufacturing includes automotive factories and several other plants that produce products for daily use. Loadshedding can lead to significant issues, quality problems, occupational safety risks and hazards, and more.
• Transport – many businesses rely heavily on the transport industry and therefore this industry cannot afford to sit without electricity.
• Agriculture industries employ a large portion of the population and when there are outages, the entire production cycle can be compromised.
• Processing industries provide food, beverages and several other consumables, medical products, and additional goods that need a temperature-controlled environment and consistent production lines to ensure that quality is not compromised.
• Healthcare – hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, and several other healthcare providers need electricity to ensure that patients can receive care.
• Commercial companies in South Africa are massive contributors to the overall economy. Therefore, they need consistent electricity to ensure continuous operation.
