As energy utility Eskom on Thursday instituted nationwide load-shedding for the first time since 2008, a report released by Statistics South Africa revealed that the volume of electricity consumed in January increased by 2.8% year-on-year, exceeding a 1.2% year-on-year increase in electricity production for the same month.
The total volume of electricity delivered by Eskom to the provinces increased by 1.1% year-on-year in the first month of the year to 193 GWh, with the largest volume increase recorded for KwaZulu-Natal (160 GWh), followed by Gauteng (127 GWh) and Limpopo (72 GWh).
In contrast, the Eastern Cape recorded the largest volume decrease, lowering its electricity consumption year-on-year by 122 GWh.
Seasonally adjusted electricity consumption increased by 0.4% month-on-month in January, following a month-on-month increase of 2.2% in December last year, while seasonally adjusted electricity production increased by 1.3% month-on-month in January, following a month-on-month increase of 0.7% in December 2013.
Further, seasonally adjusted electricity production decreased by 0.6% in the three months ended January compared with the previous three months, while seasonally adjusted electricity consumption decreased by 0.4% in the three months ended January compared with the prior comparable period.