AS the winter weather tightens its icy grip, Eskom and energy experts have allayed fears of a total grid collapse.
South Africa is in the midst of a national electricity crisis and has braced itself for colder weather in the next few weeks pushing the electricity demand even higher.
The South African Weather Services warned of snow and a drop in temperature in certain parts of the country this weekend.
Eskom General Manager, Isabel Fick said the utility was taking measures to prevent a total blackout, and was prepared for any eventuality.
Fick was speaking during a discussion on "Myths and Facts about the electricity grid stability" organised by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
Fick said the energy crisis was not unique to South Africa and several other countries around the globe were also struggling with the energy grid.
"Higher stages of load shedding does not imply a grid collapse," stressed Fick.
She added that South Africa had never experienced a total shutdown apart from the regional ones which had occurred in KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape.
However, should a total blackout occur sectors such as telecoms, water, liquid fuels, retail, coal, financial and security could be heavily impacted.
"In case of a blackout, the restoration of power supply could take up to 14 days and the first priority would be about the safety of citizens followed by the safety of the plants," said Fick
The National Rationalised Specifications Association of South Africa (NRSA of SA) also noted that the national grid was currently performing reasonably optimally.
The NRSA of SA is a "voluntary organisation" made up of entities such as Eskom, municipalities, eight metros, and the energy regulator NERSA whose main objective is to protect the grid stability.
NRSA of SA Management Chairperson and energy expert, Vally Padayachee, said historically the maximum demand during a cold winter could be from 34 GW to 38 GW or even higher.
Padayachee said during this season, the demand might or might not reach such high levels again.
In June the organisation finalised and adopted a new Code of Practice that would "adequately prepare" and enable the various energy users including commercial, industrial, mining, and Eskom to be at an advanced state of readiness to avoid going into "an unlikely" national blackout and total grid collapse situation.
"Eskom has not experienced a total blackout in its 100 years of existence and we don't intend for this to happen even in this national electricity crisis", said Padayachee.
Regional blackouts were experienced in Kwazulu Natal and Western Cape between 1971 and 1978.
Chairperson of the SA Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEC), Professor Jan de Kock, reiterated that blackouts were a common phenomenon around the globe, citing the recent "wakeup" call in New York, in the United States of America.
However, he said there were positive aspects about the South African system in that there was a central system operator and the grid code that addressed multiple unit trips.
The negative aspects included a limited back-start capacity and the low energy availability factor at Tutuka, the main power generating station.
"There are often threats to the network but we also have resilient barriers", said de Kock.