Power warning from Eskom
State-owned power utility Eskom on Friday afternoon initiated a controlled shutdown of unit 2 at the Koeberg Power Station following a technical fault that requires all the systems to be completely cold to effect repairs, it said.
It said the shutdown procedure, repairs and restarting procedure will take about two weeks to complete.
"The shutdown of unit 2 increases the vulnerability of the Eskom power system particularly as Eskom has entered into a maintenance period of its fleet of power stations," the company said.
Eskom said it will do all it can to mitigate the increased vulnerability during this period. This includes increasing the use of the two open cycle gas turbine stations in the Western Cape and its hydro and pumped storage units, as well as buying back power from its large industrial customers.
"A concerted effort to decrease the consumption of electricity by all South Africans will reduce the risk of load shedding," the company said.
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