Cape Town - South Africans are expected to brace themselves for even more rolling blackouts as the power utility implements Stage 5 load shedding until further notice.
This announcement was made on Wednesday morning by Eskom’s interim spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena.
“Due to higher than anticipated demand, Stage 5 load shedding continued from 5am until further notice. Eskom will provide an update later this afternoon,” she said.
This comes after a statement was sent out by the power utility on Monday explaining Stage 3 load shedding had been implemented.
“Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from 5pm [Monday] until 4pm on Tuesday. “Thereafter, Stage 5 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm until 5am on Wednesday followed by Stage 3 load shedding until 4pm,” the power utility said.
At the time, its breakdowns were at 14 940MW of generating capacity while its generating capacity of out of service for planned maintenance increased to 7 215.
Eskom also stated while it had two generation units return to service, Lethabo and Maimba power stations, it also had to take off the Kriel and Kendal power stations offline for repairs.
“The delays in returning a unit to service at Camden, Lethabo, Kriel, Medupi and Tutuka power stations have contributed to the capacity constraints. Further, the expected increase in demand after the Easter weekend will put additional strain on the power generation system,” Eskom said on Monday.
According to the Eskom Se Push application, during Stage 5 load shedding, South Africans are expected to receive rolling blackouts of up to 10 hours a day.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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