Eskom says no load shedding until Friday

In a short statement to the media on Sunday, Eskom’s Daphne Mokwena said this is due to consistent improvement in available generating capacity. Picture: Henk Kruger/ANA/African News Agency

In a short statement to the media on Sunday, Eskom’s Daphne Mokwena said this is due to consistent improvement in available generating capacity. Picture: Henk Kruger/ANA/African News Agency

Published Dec 17, 2023

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Load shedding will remain suspended until 4pm on Friday.

In a short statement to the media on Sunday, Eskom’s Daphne Mokwena said this is due to consistent improvement in available generating capacity.

"Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate should any significant changes occur. The evening peak demand forecast is 23 471MW.

“Unplanned outages are currently at 12 158MW and planned maintenance is 8 728MW of generation capacity,“ Mokwena said.

Load shedding was suspended on Thursday last week, owing to a further improvement in available generating capacity.

To date, South Africans have been left without electricity for more than 407 746 minutes, 86% more than any other year, according to load shedding app, Eskom Se Push.

Meanwhile, Eskom released its interim results for the six month–period ending on September 30.

According to the report, despite continued financial and operational challenges, Eskom recorded a net profit after tax of R1.6 billion.

“Revenue grew to R158.6 billion, a 9.5% increase from the R144.8 billion in September 2022, due to the favourable impact of the tariff increase for the 2024 financial year. However, sales volumes experienced a decline, dropping by 5.9% from 97.6TWh in the same period last year to 91.9TWh,” the report stated.

It added that the decline was largely because of supply constraints, coupled with lower electricity demand from customers due to difficult economic conditions and the impact of increased embedded self-generation such as solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies and wind. Non-technical losses, including the theft of electricity through illegal connections, meter tampering and ghost vending, also contributed to declining sales volumes.

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