Johannesburg - Eskom said that South Africa’s power system was severely constrained and the utility might have to cut electricity to users if the required energy can’t be saved.
“The loss of additional generation capacity as a result of technical faults and the change in weather conditions” has increased demand, the state-owned company said in a statement.
“Should we not achieve the required energy savings, we may need to go into load shedding.”
Eskom, which supplies about 95 percent of the country’s power, was forced to roll out blackouts last week after a silo storing coal collapsed at one of its biggest plants.
The company is struggling to meet demand for power after a decade of underinvestment.
Standard & Poor’s today kept Eskom’s credit rating at investment grade and removed the threat of an imminent downgrade after South Africa’s government announced plans to support the state-owned power company. - Bloomberg News