Southern African electricity companies have promised to provide the additional electricity that South Africa may need to host the football World Cup in 2010. A memorandum of understanding to that effect was signed at a meeting of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), which brings together electricity companies from Mozambique, South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Addressing a press conference immediately after the signing, the project director of the South African power company Eskom Johnny Dladla said that next year South Africa will need sufficient electricity to respond to the demand from up to half a million tourists who may visit the country during the World Cup.
"We invited the members of SAPP to this meeting to find ways of providing South Africa with additional electricity during the championship not only to illuminate the games, but also the entire area around the stadiums.”
During the last World Cup, held in Germany in 2006, there was an additional consumption of 170 MW at each football game.
In November, Mozambique utility EDM, in conjunction with Mozambican group Intelec Holdings and South Africa’s Sasol, announced plans to build a 680 MW thermal power plant in the southern Maputo province. The plant will help combat the energy crisis in South Africa in preparation for the World Cup set to be held in the country in 2010 and is projected to cost approximately $1.3 billion.
All SAPP members are committed to preventive maintenance prior to the World Cup to ensure that their systems are operating at maximum efficiency. The companies will also cooperate to ensure that, if needed, power from the DRC can be routed to reach South Africa.
Dladla praised the regional cooperation in electricity matters. "We are delighted with the level of cooperation we are receiving from our SAPP counterparts", he said. "This initiative confirms that the 2010 World Cup is truly an African event.”
Alternative Energy Africa says: If only this much effort was given to meet electricity demand for everyday use by the domestic population.