Eskom extends stage 2 load shedding until Thursday morning

Eskom has extended stage 2 load shedding until Thursday morning in order to continue replenishing the emergency generation reserves.

The power utility will be implementing stage 2 load shedding every day from Friday evening between 9pm and 5am and the cycle will continue until next week on Thursday at 5am.

“This load shedding is also necessary to address other additional risks in the generation fleet,” said spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha in a statement on Friday.

“During this time Eskom will be working hard to return a number of generating units to service and we urge the public to continue using electricity sparingly. Total breakdowns amount to 14 760MW while planned maintenance is 5 277MW of capacity.

“Whilst still recovering four units at Tutuka, which had experienced conveyor belt failures, the fleet suffered a cluster of boiler tube leaks within a short period of time.

“Emergency reserves have been further depleted today due to breakdowns of a generating unit each at Kusile, Komati and Hendrina power stations. The return of a generating unit at Majuba power station today provided some relief, however, this was insufficient to curb the extensive use of emergency reserves.”

The power utility said it would communicate with the public should there be any significant changes to the power
system.

Eskom announced on Thursday morning that the power system was under severe pressure due to a number of generating-unit breakdowns, warning of load shedding.

It had not implemented load shedding since 22 July.