Johannesburg - There will be no blackout in South Africa during winter, Eskom’s Acting Chief Executive Brian Molefe said on Wednesday.
“We are happy to announce that the prospect of a blackout in South Africa is non existent... There is no prospect of a blackout in South Africa which represents a total system collapse,” Molefe said in a briefing in Johannesburg.
“Even when we have load shedding, we are able to provide electricity to 96 percent of the country. At least 96 percent of the time electricity was available. What we are going to try and do now is maintenance with no load shedding.”
Molefe was briefing the media on the quarterly state of the power system.
He said the cold weather had increased the demand for electricity and maintenance had also put pressure on the grid.
Molefe said during this winter, there would be a three-time increase in maintenance compared to last year’s winter season.
“We are making every effort to prevent plant breakdown,” he said.
ANA