Cape Town - Eskom is holding a media briefing on Tuesday to explain why it is implementing Stage 2 load shedding.
The power utility said that load shedding would continue until Saturday.
The load shedding began on Monday afternoon at 5pm after Unit 3 broke down at the Medupi power station.
South Africans can expect electricity outages from Monday 5pm until 5am on Tuesday. This will be repeated again from 9pm on Tuesday until 5am on Wednesday, Eskom said.
The latest update from the power utility stated “Medupi Unit 3 broke down a short while ago. This requires Stage 2 load shedding to be implemented”.
In Eskom’s statement however, it cites “multiple generating unit failures over the last 24 hours”.
This includes a unit at Matla, Kendal, Matimba, Kusile and Grootvlei power stations tripping on Monday morning.
Eskom said these unit failures were coupled with other unnamed tripped units over the weekend, a reduced available generation capacity and an over-reliance on emergency generation reserves.
“This load shedding is required in order for Eskom to replenish the emergency generation reserves, which have been utilised significantly since the past weekend,” Eskom said.
The power utility expects generation units to return to service over the next 24 hours, however load shedding will occur at short notice if there are any more significant breakdowns.
Eskom has urged South Africans to reduce electricity use and to turn off non-essential items.
The latest announcement comes exactly a month after Stage 2 load shedding was last announced.
In the height of the pandemic, load shedding was at its worst in 2020 and 2021, with the average price of electricity increasing 544% between 2007-2021
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