Gqeberha residents will soon be spared from load shedding

The Municipality is rolling out a game-changing electricity load curtailment pilot project to allow Gqeberha residents to reduce their electricity usage during load shedding, while leaving their lights and other low electricity-consuming appliances on.

This move makes NMBM the first metro to roll out the project in the country, joining Eskom in the roll out of the load-limiting system that is being tested in Gauteng.

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During the official launch of the project, Electricity and Energy Mayoral Committee Member, Cllr Zanele Sikawuti said a total of 125 households in South End would receive new smart electricity meters at no cost to them.

These would be supported with sophisticated new technology at NMBM facilities that will monitor the new system and automatically turn off non-complying Gqeberha residents.

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“As NMBM, we are not spared from the challenges of energy supply in South Africa and need to work together in our small corners and come up with local solutions that will ultimately assist our country,” said Sikawuti.

“We are the first metro to roll out a project of this kind. Eskom is also piloting this project in Johannesburg and I must commend our colleagues in E&E for taking a lead on this one. We can safely say on this one singaphezulu (we are on top).

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“During load shedding your lights will still be on. Generally as a metro our electricity demand is 650 Megawatts (MW) and each household of the metro has a maximum electricity demand of 18.4 Kilowatts (KW), but this project will reduce the demand to 4.6 KW,” he added.

The project seeks to address the national energy crisis while allowing residents to still have some access to electricity during load shedding.

Consumers in Gqeberha will receive bulk SMS’s to advise them to switch off the high electricity-consuming appliances including geysers, stoves, pool pumps, aircons and washing machines. During the load-limiting period appliances such as lights, television sets, wi-fi connections and plugs to charge phones or laptops will be allowed to operate.

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According to Sikawuti, should this pilot initiative be a success, it will open more opportunities for the City to obtain funding in order to roll out the project throughout the Metro.

The project will be piloted for three months.