How much is the NWU spending to keep the lights on for you?

The three campuses of the North-West University collectively burn about  R1.1 million per day when Eskom implements stage 6 loadshedding, forcing the institution to switch on its 36 ageing diesel generators to provide power during the blackouts which can last, on and off, up to 10 hours per day.

Hendrik Esterhuizen, the Director of Engineering at the NWU’s Facilities Department, said the generators on the Potchefstroom campus were installed in 2008. “At the time they were sufficient, but it is not the case anymore. The generators were installed for power outages, not frequent loadshedding for this many hours a day,” he said.

Due to ongoing loadshedding the NWU has already begun regulating its own power provisinioning, which means during power outages some areas are not supported by the generators.

According to Esterhuizen it costs about R110 000 per hour to keep the lights on. The Potchefstroom campus is the biggest contributor as it burns 2500 litres of diesel (R60 000) per hour. Mahikeng spends R35 000 per hour and Vanderbijlpark coughs up R15 000 per hour.

From 18-26 February the country was on stage 6 loadshedding, which equates to an estimated R7.7 million spent in a week on diesel to combat the crisis. To put this figure into context, it could have covered 129 students’ tuition fees at an average of R59 500 per student for an entire year. This average was calculated based on the NWU’s financial information for 2023.

According to Esterhuizen the universities’ budget for municipal or Eskom electricity in 2023 is R273 million. However, should it experience stage 2 power cuts for the entire year it would cost an additional R93 million and on stage 4 it will set the university back another R175 million.

Louis Jacobs, the NWU spokesperson, said loadshedding heavily impacts the operating expenses of the university. “It might mean that we would have to save costs in other areas, hopefully without compromising quality. We will also have to prioritise [expenditure] to ensure that teaching and learning can continue.” 

Whereas the university has been able to shield students and staff on campus from loadshedding, which is set to continue in the future, there are concerns.

Esterhuizen said, “The situation is simple, if there is more demand for power than what the generators can supply, we have to lower the demand. To lower the demand, we need to switch parts of campus off. The university will increasingly be forced to implement ‘capacity control [when demand exceeds supply],” he said. Essentially,  implementing its own loadshedding.

He explained that their focus is to ensure that the university’s core functions can continue as normal. This means that staff can continue with their work and students can study. Therefore, parts of campus that do not contribute to the core functions (such as sportsgrounds and residences) will be switched off to ensure enough generation capacity. 

Esterhuizen stated that all three campuses have different generation capacities when they are on emergency power. Currently, Vanderbijlpark campus can generate 1.2 megavolt-amperes (MVA), while Mahikeng can deliver 4 MVA and Potchefstroom’s capacity is 7 MVA. Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom can usually generate 1.7 MVA and 8 MVA respectively, but they currently have issues with broken generators.

To put these figures into perspective, 1 MVA is enough electricity to power 650 homes and 8 MVA can power approximately 5200 houses. According to a news release from Eskom in 2014, 8 MVA is also enough to power a small town like Parys (in the Free State province).

However, the problem arises when considering the total demand that each campus requires. The Mahikeng campus usually requires 2.8 MVA, but during winter it skyrockets to 5 MVA.

The Potchefstroom campus runs at about 6 MVA, but in winter it shoots up to 11 MVA. This is 3 MVA more than the generators can deliver, even at full operational capacity. The Vanderbijlpark campus usually needs about 1.9  MVA but during winter it rises to 2.5 MVA. These figures force capacity control to ensure that the load required is less than what the generators can deliver.

The extended running time and overloading of generators puts extra strain on the emergency power systems and it can cause breakdowns. “We have waited for some parts up to a year before we were able to do the necessary repairs,” he said.

Esterhuizen said they are implementing measures to lessen the load during power outages. Through retro-fitting, energy-efficient technology will be installed such as LED lights, eco-friendly aircons and other automated systems. “We are prioritising these projects and we aim to have everything completed by 2025,” he said.

To increase the NWU’s generation capacity, adding alternative energy sources are prioritised. A 350 kilowatt solar project is under construction at Vanderbijlpark campus, with similar projects planned for other campuses. – By Ruhan Friedrichs and Ruben Jooste