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South Africa is caught in an energy bind. From sunlight to wind and biomass, the country has an abundance of resources to generate renewable energy. But the nation’s power system is still
largely reliant on fossil-fuel power plants, with scheduled power outages being the norm — until recently. In the run-up to the country’s elections in May, Eskom, the state-owned power
company that supplies almost 80% of South Africa’s electricity, stopped load shedding — the practice of scheduling outages, each lasting several hours, to lessen demand on the country’s
ageing energy infrastructure. As South Africa’s incoming government takes shape, President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that the load-shedding battle is not yet over. With a concerted
effort from the government, I know that power outages need not resume. As a researcher working on energy optimization and the energy transition, I have studied the previous governmental
efforts to end load shedding and found many ways through which the current energy system can be further optimized. More collaboration with consumers is also needed to better understand how,
and when, they use electricity. Nature’s message to South Africa’s next government: talk to your researchers South Africa’s energy crisis began in around 2007, when Eskom became unable to
meet the country’s energy needs and had to implement power cuts to decrease demand on the energy system. Since 2019, these outages have escalated to the point that, in 2023, power was
unavailable to South Africa’s population for 78% of the year (see go.nature.com/3szorvd). People and businesses have been hit hard. Many have faced insecurity and discomfort; appliances and
electronics from refrigerators to laptops have been damaged; food has regularly gone to waste. Last winter, I endured cold nights with a sick infant, whose much-needed electric nebulizer to
help treat pneumonia was rendered useless because of long power cuts. In townships, for example, by 2023, 64% of small businesses had to pause operations during periods of load shedding, 5%
closed down altogether and 66% had to reduce employees’ working hours or even let them go. Over the past decade or so, the government has implemented various measures to reduce pressures on
the power grid. It has incentivized private energy generation, as well as energy efficiency — for example, encouraging people to consume electricity during non-peak hours. Renewable
energies, including photovoltaic power generation, are on the rise. Scheduled plant shutdowns have been delayed. Some power plants have been converted to run on gas rather than diesel, and
maintenance has been improved. But these steps have not been enough to avoid load shedding, which is projected to continue beyond 2030. Meanwhile, wind and solar capacity has increased. But
these resources are intermittent — and storage is costly. What’s more, solar- and wind-power generators are mostly located in areas with constrained grid capacity, so most of the energy
produced cannot be transmitted widely. ‘Stop the xenophobia’ — South African researchers sound alarm on eve of election ENJOYING OUR LATEST CONTENT? LOGIN OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT TO CONTINUE *
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