South African power shortages

ByRod Adams

In 2000, Eskom, the South African electric power utility had reserve capacity of about 30%. The government did not agree when the company said that they needed to start building new power plants soon, and imposed a number of policies that limited the company’s ability to expand its production.

Here is a warning article that explains what can happen to an economy that is trying to grow rapidly to provide jobs and better living conditions when it does not have enough electrical power capacity. South Africa Blackouts Snarl Traffic, Shut Cartier, Vex Mbeki

Rod Adams
Rod Adams

Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.

Similar Posts

Depleted Cranium – The Top Ten Things Environmentalists Need to Learn

ByRod Adams

A friend sent me a link to a well written and thought provoking post on Depleted Cranium titled The Top Ten Things Environmentalists Need to Know. I encourage you to go read it and the lengthy discussion that follows. (Thanks DV8 2XL) Here is an example from the thread of responses. (Of course, I have…

View from Bangladesh

ByRod Adams

Asif Parvez has written an opinion piece for The Financial Express (Bangladesh) titled Nuclear power plant, a visible option for starved Bangladesh. It is worth the inevitable struggle to get past translation issues to read this article in order to expand understanding and to see an important issue from the perspective of an energy starved,…

Senators Focus on Chu's Nuclear Positions

ByRod Adams

Senators Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Sessions, Richard Burr, Bob Corker, and Mary Landrieu all asked pointed, pro-nuclear questions during Steven Chu’s confirmation hearing yesterday. Warms my heart to think that the message is finally getting across – there is NO supportable logic in a position that states that energy security is vital, protecting the climate is…

Hitchhiking with young nukes

ByRod Adams

As I told you in my last post, I attended the first ever Young Professionals Congress, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to a Career in Nuclear meeting today. The diverse group of about forty – about half of them women – nuclear professionals and students included people associated with national laboratories, universities, power plants, corporate headquarters, power…