Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 4 load-shedding during Thursday’s evening peak due to a shortage of generation capacity and colder weather.
Stage 2 load-shedding will run from 05:00 to 16:00, and will increase to Stage 4 load-shedding between 16:00 and 24:00.
“It is anticipated that Stage 2 will be implemented at 05:00-24:00 on Friday,” the state-owned power utility said.
“This load-shedding will also assist in recovering emergency generation reserves, which have been utilised extensively to meet the increased demand over the last few days.”
Eskom’s escalation to Stage 4 rotational power cuts comes after it announced Stage 2 load-shedding earlier this morning.
“The delay in returning a generation unit to service each at Arnot, Koeberg and the Kusile power stations, as well as the unplanned breakdowns of a generation unit each at Camden, Grootvlei, Lethabo, Majuba, Medupi and two units at Hendrina power stations, have exacerbated the capacity constraints,” Eskom said.
It anticipates that some generation units will return to service over the next few days.
“While the return of Unit 2 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station is anticipated for Friday night, should there be further delays, or other unit breakdowns, load-shedding might have to be extended into the weekend.”
Eskom said it currently has 2,931MW on planned maintenance, while another 15,040MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
Loading ...
Join the conversation Autoload comments
Comments section policy: MyBroadband has a new article comments policy which aims to encourage constructive discussions. To get your comments published, make sure it is civil and adds value to the discussion.