Even though we’ve had a few days of uninterrupted electricity this past week, load shedding, as predicted by those in the know, will still be a big of part of our lives in the foreseeable future.
As experienced during the higher stages of load shedding not too long ago, the longer periods of power outages have had a negative effect on businesses across the board. They have largely impacted their ability to produce and store their products.
Standard asked Rainbow Chicken how load shedding had generally impacted their day-to-day operations.
“Rainbow is an integrated business that consists of breeder operations, broiler farms, hatcheries, feed mills and processing plants in the Western Cape, North West Province and KwaZulu-Natal,” a statement from the company said. “The impact of load shedding has been significant across our value chain, which operates on a 24/7 basis. We have so far managed to keep our processing operations going during load shedding, however, resulting in high costs associated with extra shifts and diesel consumption to run back-up generators.”
Rainbow Chicken has been fortunate in not suffering any losses due to load shedding. “We have largely been able to meet our supply commitments and have so far avoided product losses, although it does come at an additional cost,” it stated.
It said it has spent thousands on generating units to ensure it is able to continue with production and proper storage of its products and day-to-day operations.
“We have had to invest in this space, which comes at a significant capital cost, in excess of R100 million on back-up power initiatives across our Rainbow operations nationally. We have back-up generators for every farm, hatchery and feed mill, which is how we limit the operational disruptions due to load shedding.”
In addition, the company, “for the crisis to improve, needs a stable supply of services such as electricity and water. Unfortunately, we do not see this in the short or medium term, as significant focus, resources and investment are required in terms of grid capacity, technology and generation capacity. Industry bodies, namely Fairplay and the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) are engaging with government on the implementation of the interventions outlined in the Budget speech, which took place on 22 February.”
