Photo by: Duane Daws
At least 4.6-million households have been connected to Eskom’s power grid since 1991, the national power utility said on Tuesday.
“Eskom successfully completed 5 620 self-funded electrification connections as well as 1 080 farm dweller connections in the 2014/15 financial year,” Eskom said.
“In addition, together with Department of Energy, Eskom has connected more than 4.6-million households to the distribution network since 1991. Although the department funded the connections, Eskom carries the ongoing operational costs and receives revenue for electricity sold.”
The power utility said according to a Statistics South Africa research in 2012, access to electricity for households increased from 35% in 1990 to 84% in 2011.
Eskom has in recent times indicated that it was successfully managing the country’s power supply. There has been no scheduled power cuts for more than seven months now, with none planned for autumn and winter, Eskom said.
New power stations and high voltage power lines were being built to meet South Africa’s growing energy demand.
“The electrification programme is now also being implemented in more remote areas, where the construction of network infrastructure is more expensive due to the distances involved and, in some cases, the difficult terrain encountered.”