Eskom load shedding risk high
Update (SAPA):
The risk of power cuts was high on Wednesday after two of Eskom’s generators failed, the power utility said.
“Two generators failed and this is part of a number of other challenges within the systems which have exacerbated the situation,” spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said.
“We are not saying there will be load-shedding but the risk is high between now [noon] and 10pm. If we all work together and use electricity sparingly, we can avoid load-shedding.”
Engineers were trying to determine why the generators broke down and how long it would take to fix them.
On Monday, Eskom said the power grid was constrained but stable after a spike in electricity usage as people returned from holiday.
At the time, Phasiwe said Eskom was able to meet the increased demand. The risk of rolling blackouts was low to medium.
He said there had been an average daily electricity demand of 25,000MW since the start of the holidays, but this had risen to 30,000MW.
Eskom called on people to reduce power use by 10 percent during the day to help it conduct planned maintenance.
Original article:
Eskom has warned that the risk of load shedding is increasing as more people return from holiday and add strain to the grid.
It tweeted the warning on Wednesday (7 January), calling for help in reducing demand.
The Power Alert website indicated that electricity usage was stable, with Eskom’s own home-page indicating yellow-level status.
The power utility said on Monday that the risk of rolling blackouts would be “low to medium” this week, however, Tuesday saw the national grid under severe strain – dipping into red-alert status.
Eskom load shedding warning
At a media briefing in December 2014, the group said that the power system will be severely constrained for the next two years, “at least until two units from Medupi and 1 unit from Kusile are running”.
Unit six of the Medupi power station was supposed to go online by the end of December 2014, but that deadline was missed and a new turn-on date has been set for one unit of the station in mid-2015.
Eskom forecast its power predictions to March 2015, with February looking to be the most strained month for the national grid.
Load shedding schedule 2015
The load-shedding schedule for your area can be found via the following websites:
Article first appeared on BusinessTech
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