Eskom confirms Stage 2 load shedding is back until Tuesday

Eskom has announced that stage 2 load shedding would be implemented effective from 17:00 on Sunday afternoon, until 22:00 Tuesday, following the loss of ten generation units at seven of its power stations.

The utility’s spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha released a statement on Sunday saying that teams have been dispatched to the relevant stations and would be working around the clock to return as many of the units to service as possible.

Mantshantsha said: “Failure of three generation units at Thuthuka was due to a loss air compressors, a unit at Majuba was forced down, while another unit was tripped.”

“A generation unit each at Kriel was taken down for boiler cube leak, and a unit was forced down to a steam leak at the Matla power station while trips each at a unit in Medupi, Kusile and the Duvha power stations are being investigated.”

The outages represent a total loss of 6044 megawatts of power over the past 24 hour period, bringing the total unplanned capacity loss to 16100 megawatts.

Mantshantsha urged the public to reducing consumption while they attempt restore as many of the affected units to service as soon as possible.

“Eskom will communicate as soon as possible should there be any further significant changes to the power system. Eskom would like to apologise to the public for the inconvenience caused.”