Eskom has suspended load shedding, albeit for a short while. Photo: iStock
Load shedding will continue to be suspended during the day, Eskom has announced.
The rolling blackout have been maintained at low stages this week despite the heatwave enveloping most parts of the country.
Eskom Crisis Communication Manager Menzi Mngomezulu said the rolling blackouts will continue from Monday evening.
“Owing to improved generation performance, load shedding will remain suspended until 16:00 on Monday. Thereafter, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 05:00 on Tuesday.
“Load shedding will then be suspended from 05:00 until 16:00 on Tuesday. This pattern of suspending load shedding from 05:00 until 16:00 and implementing stage 2 load shedding from 16:00 until 05:00, will be repeated daily until further notice,” Mngomezulu said.
Mngomezulu said Eskom will communicate should any significant changes occur.
Meanwhile, the Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will host the weekly media briefing on Monday to update South Africans on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan (EAP).
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As the country experiences warmer temperatures, summertime should be a lot easier for ordinary South Africans as we have “turned a corner” in the power crisis, according to Ramokgopa.
Ramokgopa struck an optimistic note about the country’s battle against the power cuts saying the restoration of more units at Kusile power station in the next few months could lead to additional energy capacity.
“We are now beginning to turn the corner in relation to additional capacity. I indicated at our last briefing that the Kusile units will be indispensable to resolving this problem. In the short term, it will help us reduce the intensity of load shedding.”
Kusile’s units 1, 2, and 3 were idled almost a year ago due to safety concerns and licensing restrictions.
Ramokgopa said the shutdown resulted in a loss of about 2 400 megawatts (MW) from the national grid. The other two units of Kusile are expected to return online around 3 November.
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