Eskom increases load-shedding as seven units go offline for maintenance

Eskom has announced an alternating schedule of stage 2 and stage 3 power cuts after taking several generating units offline for maintenance.

“Over the past 24 hours, five generation units were taken offline for repairs,” Eskom said in a statement on Monday.

“Additionally, the return to service of two generating units that were on planned maintenance was delayed due to an opportunity to perform preventative maintenance.”

The state-owned power utility said these factors have contributed to the shortage of available capacity, necessitating stage 3 power cuts from 16:00 on Monday until 05:00 on Tuesday.

Thereafter, load-shedding will be reduced to stage 2 until 16:00 on Tuesday.

“This pattern of stage 2 load-shedding from 05:00 until 16:00 and stage 3 load-shedding from 16:00 until 05:00 will be repeated daily until further notice,” Eskom stated.

“Unplanned outages are at 16,473MW of generating capacity, while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance is at 7,521MW.”

Eskom said power station general managers and their teams will continue to work diligently to ensure that the 1,600MW of generating capacity is returned to service by Wednesday as planned.

“Eskom’s load forecast for the evening peak demand tonight is 26,411MW,” it said.

“We would like to appeal to the members of the public to continue reducing demand by switching off non-essential appliances,” the power utility said.

“We would also like to thank those who heed the call to use electricity sparingly and efficiently, including switching off geysers and pool pumps from 17:00 to 21:00. This lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system, contributing to lower stages of load-shedding.”

The timetable below summarises Eskom’s planned load-shedding schedule until further notice.