Johannesburg - Eskom announced with ‘regret’ that Stage 2 load shedding will be extended until 11pm on Sunday.
South Africa swung back into rolling blackouts earlier this week. The power utility announced that load shedding would be suspended Friday night.
However, the power utility said breakdowns at the Kriel, Medupi and Kendall power stations led to several generation units being forced to go off-line for a varied number of faults.
Eskom said there were also other risks reported at other power stations which forced them to take the decision to extend load shedding until Sunday night.
“Regrettably, the implementation of Stage 2 load shedding will be extended to 11pm on Sunday as the generation capacity is severely constrained.
“Over the past 24 hours, further breakdowns occurred at three power stations, putting further strain on the generation capacity.
“While Eskom used the load shedding of the past two days to replenish the emergency generation reserves, we have had to utilise the emergency reserves to supplement supply.
“This period of load shedding will be used to replenish the emergency generation reserves,” said an Eskom spokesperson.
Eskom said it had 7 071MW (megawatts) on planned maintenance, while another 11 780MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and delays.
“This has led to our inability to supply the increasing demand. Eskom is working hard to return the units back to service, and should the previously stated risks materialise and units not return as expected, there is a high probability that load shedding may continue into the coming week,” said the power utility.
Earlier this week, Eskom said that the poor performance at the Kusile, Duvha and Tutuka power stations was blamed for the implementation of load shedding.
“Eskom has had to extensively utilise the emergency generation reserves, which are being rapidly depleted. This period of load shedding will be used to replenish the emergency generation reserves,” it said on Wednesday.
IOL