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The Economic Impact of Electricity Price Increases on ... - Eskom

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A comparis<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the electricity intensity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> SA industries to their<br />

counterparts in the OECD suggests that there is significant scope for<br />

efficiency gains<br />

21<br />

Sectors<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>Electricity</str<strong>on</strong>g> intensity<br />

GWh/$milli<strong>on</strong><br />

South<br />

Africa<br />

OECD Difference<br />

Difference between<br />

OECD & SA<br />

Weighted<br />

relative to<br />

output<br />

difference<br />

Agriculture and<br />

forestry<br />

0.316 0.016 1870.90% 1242.4%<br />

Basic metals 1.095 0.111 887.30% 644.2%<br />

Chemical and<br />

petrochemical<br />

0.203 0.034 494.70% 462.9%<br />

C<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> 0.002 0.087 -97.90% -155.9%<br />

Food and tobacco 0.021 0.023 -11.30% -7.8%<br />

Machinery 0.005 0.028 -81.20% -416.9%<br />

Mining and<br />

quarrying<br />

0.634 0.026 2305.60% 482.1%<br />

N<strong>on</strong>-metallic<br />

minerals<br />

0.524 0.02 2517.70% 3169.7%<br />

Paper, pulp and<br />

printing<br />

0.207 0.021 891.50% 1758.6%<br />

Textile and leather 0.067 0.01 548.80% 398.3%<br />

Transport<br />

equipment<br />

0.003 0.004 -20.10% -21.7%<br />

Transport sector 0.089 0.013 563.40% 505.7%<br />

Wood and wood<br />

products<br />

0.069 0.027 153.60% 162.5%<br />

Source: (Inglesi-Lotz & Blignaut, 2011)<br />

Scope for electricity efficiency gains<br />

Vulnerability <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

sectors to rising<br />

electricity prices<br />

Scope for efficiency gains<br />

• This is particularly true in the n<strong>on</strong>-metallic<br />

miners, mining and quarrying, agriculture,<br />

paper and basic metals sectors<br />

• While a useful starting point, high-level<br />

comparis<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> electricity intensity across<br />

sectors may mask fundamental differences in<br />

the characteristics <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the industries across<br />

countries – e.g. the c<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> industry in<br />

South Africa is far more labour intensive than<br />

the industry in OECD<br />

• If South Africa is to remain competitive relative<br />

to its OECD counterparts under more stringent<br />

trade regimes, including carb<strong>on</strong> and climate<br />

change c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>s, improvements in<br />

efficiencies will be necessary (Inglesi-Lotz and<br />

Blignaut , 2011)<br />

• <str<strong>on</strong>g>Electricity</str<strong>on</strong>g> efficient technologies can be costly<br />

and can take a l<strong>on</strong>g time to implement,<br />

especially within capital intensive sectors like<br />

mining.<br />

• A study by the HSRC (2008) found that the<br />

<strong>on</strong>ly short term energy saving opti<strong>on</strong>s<br />

available to the mining sector, which did not<br />

involve reducing output, were in the hostels or<br />

administrative <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fices<br />

©2012 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. All rights reserved.<br />

2

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