The start of the Soccer World Cup has had an unexpected benefit for blackout-plagued Cape Town, the city’s manager for public lighting, Charles Kadalie, said on Wednesday.
He said a drop in evening peak electricity demand in residential areas has been noticeable since Friday, when the tournament got under way in Germany.
”Everybody rushes home and instead of putting kettles on, or whatever, which pushes up the peak, they plonk themselves down in front of a TV,” he said.
”For us it’s got a positive impact during the peak time, when the load normally shoots up … it doesn’t shoot up so dramatically.
”It means people are saying, ‘I’m not going to cook now; I’m going to watch the game.’ Which also shows that a lot of dads cook.”
Asked whether it might not also mean that many moms are keen on soccer, he grinned. ”Well, you can put your own spin on that,” he conceded.
The Western Cape has been subjected to load-shedding — planned blackouts — as the region’s electricity infrastructure battles to meet winter demand.
The power cuts began after the Koeberg nuclear power station, north of Cape Town, developed problems in November last year.
One of the two power-generating units at the installation is currently being refuelled, and is expected to be fully operational only by the end of July.
”I want to make a proposal that we keep the World Cup on till October,” Kadalie said. — Sapa