Short-term power outages at BHP Billiton's southern African aluminum smelters are taking place in terms of the company's contract with Eskom and are not having a material effect on production, says company spokesperson, Bronwyn Wilkinson.
"Two pot lines were affected last night — one at Mozal (Maputo) and one at Hillside (Richards Bay) — and Mozal also experienced an outage on Tuesday night for about 40 minutes," she told I-Net Bridge on Friday.
"These outages occur in terms of our agreement with Eskom that they can cut power to our smelters when there is peak demand on their power grid."
BHP Billiton's three smelters at Mozal, Hillside and Bayside produced around 1.86 million tons of aluminium last year — more than seven percent of world output. Production is mainly primary aluminium, foundry alloy, extrusion billet, rolling slab and wire rod.
The smelters are massive consumers of electricity and therefore have specific pricing arrangements and load shedding agreements with electricity providers such as Eskom.
Wilkinson said that while power outages "are not ideal, they are not material to production levels".
"Outages generally last 30-40 minutes and usually take place at night," she said.
Asked whether they mainly occur in winter when Eskom's power grid is under pressure, she said outages can also occur at other times of the year when demand is heightened.
Last year's problems at the Koeberg power utility outside Cape Town, which had a ripple effect across the country, resulted in some short outages at BHP Billiton's smelters.
Eskom was not available for comment.
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