Eskom gives load-shedding update — it’s not good news
Eskom has announced it will continue implementing stage 5 load-shedding until 05:00 on Saturday morning.
“Eskom will publish a full statement on Friday afternoon with regards to the rest of the weekend and for next week,” the state-owned power utility said in a brief statement.
This comes after it said on Tuesday that it might reduce load-shedding by one stage by Thursday.
Eskom has struggled to get rotational power cuts below stage 5 since Saturday.
Generating units across Eskom’s ageing coal-fired fleet have been tripping almost as quickly as the utility can effect repairs to broken-down generators.
Eskom has implemented continuous load-shedding since Tuesday, 6 September, starting at stage 2 and ramping up to stage 6 over two weeks.
It announced Stage 6 power cuts in the early hours of Sunday morning without warning when units at Kriel and Kusile power stations tripped.
Eskom had warned sudden increases in load-shedding stages could be needed on Saturday.
It moved the country from stage 4 to stage 5 after five generating units tripped — one each at Kusile, Arnot, and Camden, and two units at Duvha.
This was after three units went down on Friday at Kriel, Majuba and Tutuka.
The power utility said on Sunday that it could no longer provide a load-shedding timetable for the coming days and would reduce load-shedding stages as it recovers generating capacity.
Eskom launched a set of power procurement programmes on Monday to urgently add around 1,000MW to the country’s grid — equivalent to one stage of load-shedding.
President Cyril Ramaphosa cut short a visit to the United States, including attending the UN General Assembly, after Eskom announced stage 6 load-shedding.
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