Supply of generators dries up

[Nutty_ZA]

Johannesburg - Homeowners and businesses are being forced to generate their own electricity as blackouts strike everywhere, but suppliers are running out of generators and many do not expect new stock for weeks, the Sowetan reported on Wednesday.

David Cooksley, a generator engineer and supplier in Johannesburg, told the newspaper that he had run out of stock and even the parts to build them.

He said clients had paid for generators that he could not complete because he did not have the cages to mount them in.

"We can't find supplies, alternators, bars, you name it.

"There is nothing in the country to build new generators with and this spells a waiting period of about eight weeks," he said.

A manager of a Johannesburg hardware store told the Sowetan that the demand for generators had rocketed since last Monday.

"The demand is far greater than what we can supply."

He said 99% of the inquiries he received were from anxious people who wanted to know about generators.

"It is nice to get calls, but to explain the same thing over and over again the whole day long, is a different story," he said.

Cooksley, who builds generators for household use and for big companies, said an entry-level generator of 6000w would cost about R7 900.

"And this is only a baby generator that would require the user to juggle appliances."

A high-end generator that would power geysers, stoves, appliances, plugs and lights would cost about R33 000.

"This would be able to run everything at once, but each household is different and uses different appliances," he said.

Cooksley said generator suppliers were flourishing as many small businesses feared they would be forced to close their doors because of power cuts.
"And this is going to last a couple of years because clearly Eskom does not have ideas."

[TheGuru]

Wow thats amazing, it really does emphasise the power outage problems.

[sabredragon]

Just reading this about the shortage of generators & parts to make/repair them & this must be the same for all the companies in that line of work , you would have thought some entrepeneur would have come in with cheaper entry level generators to feed the market place so to speak .