Cape Town: Power utility Eskom announced on Tuesday that it might implement stage 2 load shedding at short notice due to a shortage of generation capacity.
It said the implementation might take place between 4pm and 12am over the next three days.
“The delay in returning a generation unit to service each at Arnot, Kusile, and the Koeberg power stations, as well as the failure of a generation unit each at Medupi, Hendrina, Camden, and two units at Majuba Power Station, have exacerbated the capacity constraints. Some generation units at other power stations are expected to return to service over the next few days.
“However, should there be any further loss of generation capacity over the next three days, or should some units fail to return to service as anticipated, load shedding may be required to be implemented at short notice,” Eskom said.
The power utility said it had 2 986MW on planned maintenance, while another 15 513MW of capacity was unavailable due to breakdowns.
The power utility reminded the public load shedding was implemented as a last resort to protect the national grid.
“We, therefore, urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly, especially during these uncertain times on the power system,” it said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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