Immediate, medium and long-term solutions to what government described as South Africa's electricity-supply emergency, are currently being implemented.

Behavioural changes on the demand side along with other methods of power conservation are among the immediate interventions being made.

These will continue over the next six months as longer-term strategies begin to kick in, the ministers of Public Enterprises and Minerals and Energy indicated.

"During our deliberations in Cabinet, it became obvious that the interventions that will provide us with immediate relief will be on the demand-side management and energy efficiency," Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said.

Power rationing will form the crux of the power conservation programme, along the lines of steps implemented by countries such as Brazil and Cuba, which effectively turned a similar energy crisis into opportunities to grow their economies, Sonjica said.

Power rationing will involve quotas, and these will include a variety of incentives and penalties.

Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said interventions along these lines would be voluntary as well as mandatory, underlining the seriousness of the situation.

"We must stress that the successful implementation of these programmes will give us much comfort within a two-year period," Erwin said.

He added: "It is also critical to stress that the growth of South Africa's economy at the current healthy levels can continue if we change our behaviour and become more energy efficient."

The costs of electricity - which in South Africa are among the world's cheapest - are expected to rise significantly, with increases of between 14 per cent to 20 per cent.

However, bigger users will pay more, thereby "sheltering poorer users", said Erwin, while a "free basic energy allowance" is being looked at to lessen the impact of price increases on the country's poor.

Included among immediate steps are co-generation plans, whereby large industries are to be encouraged to generate some of their own electricity, while all business and residential users are being strongly encouraged to conserve as much energy as possible.

Government departments themselves - "at all levels" - are being immediately charged with making a "major contribution" to energy saving.

At the same time, communication channels between energy stakeholders and government, as well as Eskom, are being enhanced to more effectively plan for power outages.

However, Eskom Chief Executive Officer Jacob Maroga pointed out that load-shedding remained the very last resort for the power company, and as such it was often difficult to provide sufficient advance warning.

However, efforts at communicating load-shedding times are to be stepped up, and coordination will be advanced using all available media, from the Internet to radio, newspapers and television.

In the medium-term, the roll-out of compact fluorescent lightbulbs - to replace the older, energy-intensive incandescent bulbs - is being stepped up.

A saving of as much as 800 megawatts (MW) is projected to result from greater use of CFL light bulbs in businesses and homes across the country, with a targeted saving of 750 MW by 2010.

This programme will allow low-income households to exchange the older lightbulbs for CFL bulbs for free until 2015, while restrictions are to be placed on the manufacture of incandescent bulbs.

Solar heating forms another element of the power conservation programme, with a target to install one million solar heaters over the next three years.

Because of the often prohibitive cost of these heaters, which cost between R7 000 and R20 000 each but which can fulfill the critical role of heating water, government is to subsidise these with amounts of between 20 per cent and 30 per cent, reporters heard.

The potential savings from programme alone - which will be rolled out at places like army bases and mine residences - is expected to amount to 650 MW.

Smart metering is another intervention, whose benefits will be reaped in the medium term. This requires retrofitting existing household meters, allowing Eskom or a municipality to remote manage customer load.

A potential saving of a massive 3 265 MW is expected here, with a saving of 2 161 MW from geysers; 246 MW from laundry; 122 MW from pool pumps and 736 MW from other appliances.

Switching to liquid petroleum gas for household cooking is another important means of conservation, and one which could save as much as 500 MW.

In the meantime, renewable energies are to be looked at more closely, with government to pilot a wind-generation plant to examine the true potential of this source.

At the same time, Eskom will continue with its massive infrastructure build programme, which involves the construction of both coal-fired power stations and nuclear power stations - using conventional and pebble-bed modular technology.

Source: BuaNews