Eskom’s Lethabo Power Station in Free State. Picture: Gallo Images/Business Day/Freddy Mavunda
Eskom has announced stage 3 load shedding will implemented from 9am on Sunday.
Stage 1 load shedding initially came into effect at 5am on Sunday and was planned to continue until 4pm.
However, the power utility has since confirmed in a brief statement that stage 3 load shedding will be in place instead until Monday morning.
“In order to replenish emergency reserves in preparation for the week ahead, Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from 9am this morning until 5am on Monday. Eskom will communicate the outlook for the week ahead this afternoon,” Eskom said on Sunday.
ALSO READ: SA should brace for higher stages of load shedding going into 2024
The announcement of the rolling blackouts comes as one of the units at the Koeberg nuclear power station near Cape Town returned to online.
The unit 1 returned to service on Saturday, almost a year after it was taken offline.
Eskom confirmed that the unit, which generates 920 megawatts (MW) or one stage of load shedding, had been successfully synchronised to the electricity grid.
Unit 1 was taken offline in December last year, and the work was only supposed to take six months.
Once unit 1 reaches a stable condition, unit 2 will be taken offline to undergo a similar mechanical process of having its steam generators replaced.
Koeberg has a total capacity of 1860 MW, contributing approximately 5% of electricity generated by Eskom.
Meanwhile, a new Eskom chief executive officer (CEO) is expected to be appointed before the end of the year, according the utility’s board chairperson Mteto Nyati, who recently replaced Mpho Makwana after his resignation.
Nyati informed Parliament earlier this month that the three people were in the race to be appointed.
“Recently, we, as the board, submitted three names of appointable candidates to [Public Enterprises] Minister Pravin Gordhan.
“He is now taking these names through the relevant government processes. We expect the appointment to be made at the end of this year,” Nyati told MPs on 8 November.
READ MORE: Makwana’s departure ‘an indication that something not well’ at Eskom
Calib Cassim is Eskom’s acting CEO. Cassim assumed the role after former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter left the utility in February this year.
De Ruyter previously cited Gordhan’s apparent micromanagement in the day-to-day operations at Eskom as one of the reasons for his resignation.
He also told Scopa that Eskom’s board, which was appointed in September last year, made it difficult for him to carry out his duties.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
