SAPP confronts energy crisis

Energy

The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) has acknowledged that power supplies in much of southern Africa are in a critical state and emergency measures may be needed sooner rather than later. Lawrence Musaba, coordination centre manager for SAPP, says regional demand for energy will not be met next year or the year after, seriously affecting economic growth and making millennium development goals difficult to meet.

Musaba attributed the situation to the runaway demand for electricity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and to the fact that there has been not nearly enough investment in power generation over the past 15 years. He says, however, that SAPP is alert to the problem and is tackling it in a number of ways. It has formulated a priority listing to guide future activity and is also working with SADC ministers to find funding for a host of generation and transmission projects.

Copyright International Communications Dec 2006
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