Windhoek, Jul 15, 2008 -- New Era/All Africa Global Media

Despite the fact that industrial and domestic users in southern Africa face unprecedented electricity deficits caused by limited power generation by major electricity utilities, it is not all doom and gloom because there are quick to long-term solutions.

Quick fix to long-term solutions are available in the form of diesel and petrol-fired portable electricity generators and efficient solar back-up systems sold by Tooltech, a renowned dealership for tools and industrial equipment at Cymot with branches all over Namibia.

In a recent interview Jorg Finkeldey, the Brand Manager: Tooltech, said Cymot has all along been selling generators for many, many years and that "it is part of the company's programme" and that most of these generators are used by small business concerns.

He explained that companies that buy generators from Cymot use them for lighting purposes and that even some of the commercial farmers in remote areas that are traditionally cut off from the main power grid use electricity generators mainly to light up their farms.

"We did invest in more generators because the newspapers created an awareness among people that we have a power crisis on our hands, and the Government and NamPower have openly discussed saying yes, we have a power crisis on our hands, that is why we invested in generators to meet supply and demand in the market," said Finkeldey in an interview.

He said because of sudden power outages more and more Namibians and companies are realising the urgent need to have a generator, and that because of this need Cymot has in certain months doubled its generator sales when compared to the past.

People from Angola and Zambia are among the people coming to Cymot to buy generators to offset the power crunch that has on certain days brought production to a complete halt.

He noted these foreign buyers come to Namibia because of the fact that goods are not only available but they are also cheaply priced and they are affordable particularly at Cymot.

"People from neighbouring countries do come and shop in Namibia, and this is not only confined to generators and that because things are not only available in Namibia, but they are also cheaper - that is why we have people from other countries coming to buy from companies like Cymot," explained the brand manager for the household name in tools and equipment.

He further said some people because of career advancements have enough money to buy generators to take to their villages, which in most cases are not electrified.

"We are not growing because there is a power scare - that is not a clever way of doing business - we are growing because of business growth," he said in response to a question.

The generators that are very popular are the ones that are lowly priced and have a capacity ranging from 2 kilowatts to 10 kilowatts costing from N$1600 to N$7000.

These are mainly petrol and diesel-driven generators designed not for constant power but are rather made for short-term power generation such as when there is a power outage.

These generators should be used as a stopgap measure when there is a power failure lasting for a few minutes to an hour, and not for periods ranging from five to six hours.

When asked about the advantages of having such a generator, Finkeldey was quick to point out: "The advantages are that you have immediate power. If you need power and you have petrol in your machine that is well-maintained, you pull the rope and it will give you power."

For now power stations cannot be built immediately because they are capital-intensive and it takes at least three years to construct one before it could provide any electricity.

The other power alternative is to buy a large diesel generator with a capacity to produce anything from 50 kilowatts to 70 kilowatts though this is a "different ball game" as it costs 10 times the price of a small petrol-driven generator, he said.

Such big generators that could power a small factory need to be housed in a cement encasement to reduce the amount of noise pollution because they are usually noisy.

"We put a small house around it so that it is sound attenuated because a diesel generator is very noisy and you will get power within half a minute of power failure," he said.

He said NamPower has done an excellent job considering the present power crisis, adding: "If you go to Angola and you walk around or drive around in Luanda there is no business without its own generator. But the more you will get hurt, the more you will think about investing in this."

"NamPower has done its best by keeping the power crisis at bay but there may come a time when they will say 'there is nothing we can do about this'," he predicted.

Solar back-up systems that come with deep-cycle or ordinary storage batteries are another alternative to counter unpredictable power failures and they are mainly preferred by hospitals.

In this product range are: EC-24/2000 automatic inverter system with a 1KW load for two hours, and an EC-48/2000 with a 1KW for four hours.

The others are an EC-48/4000 that can supply 2KW continuously for a four-hour period and there is also an EC-48/6000.

The EC-48/2000 sells for N$19 432.70 while the EC-24/2000 has an N$14 000 price tag and these high-quality electrical back-up systems are assembled by a Namibian engineer.

Finkeldey feels consumers should consult local electricians who could advise them on the best alternative power source to ensure they get total satisfaction and they should rely on reputable companies such as Cymot that has reliable back-up systems.

In southern Africa, the root cause of the present power crisis is poor forward planning and this has also in part been attributed to the fact that in South Africa, Eskom - a parastatal that generates 95 percent of that country's electricity - cut out redundant power stations a decade ago and it has not added any significant new capacity since the '80s.

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