Cape Town: Power utility Eskom has urged South Africans to reduce their electricity usage during peak hours.
It said the power system would be severely constrained during the evening peak period.
Eskom said load shedding could be implemented at short notice should there be any unit breakdowns.
Eskom had suspended load shedding on Saturday after power cuts throughout the week.
“While the power system has recovered sufficiently to fully meet the demand during the day, Eskom would like to caution the public that load shedding might be required at short notice during the evening peaks should there be further breakdowns in currently available capacity,” the power utility said.
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It said it expected generation units to return to service at the Kusile and Kendal power stations before the evening peak.
Should the generation units fail to return to service as expected, the power system would be severely constrained and load shedding would be probable at short notice.
“The return to service of a generation unit each at Matimba and Lethabo, as well as two units each at Hendrina and three at Tutuka power stations, have been delayed, increasing the evening peak constraints.
“The onset of winter has seen increased demand and this will lead to a constrained system, particularly during the morning and evening peaks, throughout the winter.
“We therefore urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly, especially between 5am and 9am and 4pm and 10pm,” Eskom said.
There is 3 049MW of planned maintenance, while another 14 985MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
