Eskom says power system is ‘severely’ constrained, warns of load shedding at very short notice

After spending the weekend without load shedding, Eskom on Monday warned South Africans the power system was severely constrained and urged the public to reduce their consumption of electricity.

The embattled power utility said this was due to delays in returning units to service and the loss of multiple generation units.

Eskom warned that any further losses of generation capacity would force it to implement rolling power cuts at very short notice.

“The loss of multiple generators over the weekend, as well as delays in returning some generation units to service, has made for a very constrained power system this afternoon,” Eskom said in a statement.

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The power giant said it was working on returning a generation unit each at Matimba, Duvha and Arnot power stations to service before the evening peak on Monday.

“Today a generation unit each at Arnot, Kendal, Matla and Tutuka power stations have been returned to service. However, we will still be heavily reliant on emergency reserves to meet demand tonight.

“Emergency reserves are healthy to assist in reducing the supply deficit. We currently have 4 533MW on planned maintenance, while another 13 601MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”

Eskom lifted load shedding on Friday at 10pm after days of rolling blackouts due to breakdowns at its power stations, affecting its generation units.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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