During a recent gathering of the Cape Town Press Club, the question of whether the Western Cape could face a possible disaster should imported diesel supplies run out was posed to Premier Alan Winde.
Also read: Diesel expenses take a toll on the WC Health Department’s budget
The question was posed in light of the Western Cape’s reliance on Eskom’s diesel-powered station at Ankerlig and diesel generators installed at hospitals and schools and by the private business sector, Cape Business News reports.
According to Winde, the provincial administration has a sophisticated risk analysis system, adding that the disaster management team ‘really are world-class’.
He notes that the possibility of a diesel crisis is not far-fetched. ‘A couple of months ago, we almost ran out, well, we actually ran out of diesel – we had ships on the ocean, storms on the ocean and delays in delivery and we were in deep, deep trouble. On the other side of the equation, as soon as you have prolonged level six load shedding, we just burn through diesel like you cannot believe in this province – both in the private sector, in the government sector and, most prominently, in the Eskom sector.’
He says the trucks that transport diesel to Ankerlig run into permanent delays due to insufficient storage capacity. ‘They burn diesel not like the peak-load only plant they were supposed to be, but as a base-load plant. And it was very close.’
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He says although production at the local Caltex refinery has started again, the issue is complex.
‘Investment into major new refineries employing new technology across the world changed everything. The big refineries are producing diesel or other energy products far more efficiently and are just shipping them around the world. As a result, the old refineries were no longer a viable proposition and most have closed down. But to achieve a demand-supply equilibrium, I am happy that we are producing diesel again.’
‘Thanks to the risk analysis team, I have a dashboard that can tell me how much diesel is in each hospital and in each school, and the private sector (is) doing exactly the same thing. They are building these platforms (so) that they know exactly how much because of that crisis that we had.’
‘It’s also about the energy mix – diesel makes up a certain percentage, as does gas – at the moment, just LPG (liquid petroleum gas). I wish we had a component of liquid natural gas.’
‘We, in the province, are doing our own provincial Integrated Resource Plan, looking at our current energy use, what energy usages are there, what…the future looks like, and what energy sources will we be using then. The pathway to green hydrogen, green steel…there are so many things that we – and business – need to get right and to plan for, such as should they invest in another refinery or should we expand that current refinery.’
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Also read:
Eskom spends R3 billion burning diesel a month into 2023/24 fiscal year
Picture: Ankerlig Power Station / Eskom
