World Small Hydropower Development Report 2013 - Swaziland

Abstract

Power in Swaziland is supplied and distributed by the Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC), which was established in 2007 by the Swaziland Electricity Company Act. SEC currently has a monopoly on the import, distribution and supply of electricity via the national power grid. The SEC also owns a majority of the country’s power stations. There are five other private power stations. A substantial amount (nearly 25 per cent) of energy used in Swaziland has been self-supplied. Approximately 80 per cent of Swaziland’s electricity is imported from South Africa through the SAPP. The remaining 20 per cent of the electricity requirement is generated by hydropower (figure 1). Biomass, especially wood fuel, constitutes about 90 per cent of the total energy consumed and is still dominant for use in cooking and heating in rural areas. Not only biomass is the major fuel used by households, but it’s also the major source of electricity self-generation in the sugar, pulp and saw mill industries.