Cape Town – Power utility Eskom says it will be suspending Stage 2 load shedding from 9pm on Thursday, easing blackouts to Stage 1 load shedding from 5am until 9pm on Friday.
Eskom said its teams had successfully returned eight generating units to service over the past 24 hours.
“This, together with load shedding, has allowed us to recover the dam levels at the pump storage stations and suspend load shedding at 9pm tonight.
“Unfortunately, diesel tank levels at three of the four OCGT power stations remain low and, therefore, Stage 1 load shedding will be implemented from 5am until 9pm on Friday, November 19,” Eskom said.
The power utility said a unit each at Camden, Komatie, Tutuka, Matla and Medupi power stations, as well as two units at Matimba power station, were returned to service. A generating unit at the Duvha power station was taken out of service for boiler tube leak repairs.
Total breakdowns currently amount to 15 605MW, while planned maintenance is 3 604MW capacity.
“We remind customers that load shedding is implemented as a last resort to maintain the stability of the power system regardless of the stage of load shedding,” the power utility said.
Eskom also apologised for any inconvenience the implementation of load shedding has caused the country.
It also requested for residents to reduce the usage of electricity in order to assist them with constraints.
Eskom further stated should there be any significant changes to the power system, it would communicate promptly regarding the issue.