S.Africa´s neighbours promise WC will be electric

South Africa’s neighbours on Monday pledged to help ensure that the country has enough electricity during the football World Cup next year, the state power company Eskom said.

The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) met in Maputo to discuss how the region can help make sure that South Africa does not suffer a repeat of the power cuts that crippled the country in January last year.

Eleven countries agreed to reduce pressure on the regional grid during the 2010 competition by encouraging manufacturers to slow production during peak evening periods for the games.

They also agreed to boost energy efficiency and maximise power plant production during the events.

“We are delighted with the level of co-operation we are receiving from our SAPP counterparts,” Eskom Project 2010 unit managing director Johnny Dladla said in a statement.

“This initiative confirms that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is truly and indeed an African event,” he said.

In addition to South Africa, the power pool includes Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

South Africa was early last year hit by rolling power cuts as Eskom failed to meet increasing demand for electricity.

In November last year, Eskom signed a 500 million dollar (393 million euro) loan with the African Development Bank (ADB) to aid its expansion programme.

The company says it plans to increase its capacity to 80,000 megawatts by 2026 from the current 43,000 megawatts.

A 4,800 megawatt coal-powered power plant, which would be the fourth-largest in the world, is already under construction but won’t be operational until 2012.