Durban - Electricity supply shortages and loadshedding have been compounded by the heavy rains in KZN.
Eskom Chief Executive Officer (CEO), André de Ruyter, said powerlines affected by the localised flooding in parts of KwaZulu-Natal were being attended to.
During a media briefing this morning (Monday), de Ruyter said the matter was being prioritised. This follows major flooding that wreaked havoc in many parts of the province.
"In some instances we are aware that there are powerlines down and also that there may be localised flooding that can affect our substations.
“We dispatch our maintenance crews, we prioritise work to give the maximum relief to the maximum amount of customers as quickly as possible.
" This is an emergency situation, I think that's quite clear judging by more than 200 millilitres of rain that's fallen over the eThekwini Municipality over the last 24 hours and the flooding that's taken place,“ he said.
De Ruyter added: “We are also looking at opportunities to alleviate some of the pressure on the system and hopefully with our local management are placed to address the situation as it unfolds.“
"At the moment it is very dynamic, things are changing all the time, the floods are still in progress and in a number of instances we will have to wait for the flooding waters to subside before we can start the process of assessing the damage first of all, and secondly to start the repair work that will be required.
“We appreciate that water and electricity don't mix, so we also have to bear in mind the safety of our crews and the general public when it comes to restoring the supply of electricity especially in water-logged areas," said de Ruyter.
Meanwhile, loadshedding was suspended at 05:00 on Monday morning. However, due to the continued shortage of generation capacity, Eskom said that Stage 2 loadshedding will again be implemented from 17:00. Loadshedding will then be suspended at 05:00 on Wednesday.
Eskom warned the public that the constrained supply situation will persist throughout the week, with the possibility of more loadshedding should the generation capacity deteriorate further.
The utility said that Unit 5 of Medupi Power Station returned to service during the night. Three generating units at the Camden Power Station had tripped contributing to the shortage of capacity. Eskom teams were working hard to return as many of the units to service as possible.
Eskom currently has 4 804MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 449MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns.
In media statement, Eskom said, "We are managing the emergency generation reserves to limit the stage of loadshedding. The overnight loadshedding will be used to replenish the dam level at the pump storage power stations in preparation for the remainder of the week."
SUNDAY TRIBUNE