Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 9pm on Saturday night until 5am on Monday morning, Eskom announced in a statement released on Saturday afternoon.
The power utility warned that if there is “further deterioration in the power system”, load shedding may be required to be implemented earlier.
Eskom said the load shedding was due to a failure of a generation unit each at Kusile, Medupi and Arnot power stations, as well as a delay of a unit returning to service at Tutuka power station.
There was a reported failure of the coal conveyors at Medupi which led to reduced output at the station. Eskom said that this has since been rectified, but would “take some time to recover the full operations”.
In addition to the above, there was a complete shutdown of the Kendal power station ash plant due to an electrical fault. The ash plant has since returned to service and the ash backlog recovery is in progress.
According to Eskom, these constraints, together with higher demand on Friday and Saturday, have resulted in “extensive usage of emergency generation reserves”.
“Total breakdowns have increased to 14 727MW while planned maintenance is 6 711MW of capacity as we continue with the reliability maintenance,” it said.
Eskom has urged all South Africans to help reduce the usage of electricity by switching off non-essential items.
IOL