According to a report released by Stats SA today, the volume of electricity consumed in October 2011 decreased by 0.8% y/y. This is consistent with the current sluggish performance in the mining and manufacturing sectors.
Overall, the consumption of electricity has slowed appreciably during 2011, averaging an annual growth rate of only 1% in the first ten months of 2011, which is well down on the growth of 3.8% achieved in 2010. In total, South Africa currently consumes about the same amount of electricity it did four years ago, which reflects the severity of the recent recession coupled with significantly higher electricity prices. In effect, the economy has become more energy efficient.
Interestingly, the volume of electricity purchased from outside SA (imports) increased by a very substantial 18.3% y/y in October 2011. This helped to compensate for some of the downtime associated with domestic maintenance.
In contrast, the volume of electricity sold to neighbouring countries (exports) increased by 3.0%y/y in October 2011. South Africa imports more electricity than it exports. Eskom supplies electricity to Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. South Africa imports electricity from Mozambique (although at present the Cahora Bassa hydropower transmission line is out of order), the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
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