WATCH: Eskom pushes load shedding to stage 2 until Monday

Embattled power utility Eskom said stage 2 load shedding will continue to be implemented until 4pm on Monday.

The utility downgraded the power cuts from stage 3 that was announced on Saturday.

Spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said the reduction in load shedding was due to further improvement in generation capacity.

Watch electricity minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa announcing that unit 4 of Kusile Power Station is back online

We are pleased to annouce that unit 4 of Kusile Power Station that was put on planned maintenance has been brought back online this morning. This milestone means generating capacity will be ramped up by 800MW into the grid, resulting in the reduction of one stage of Loadshedding. pic.twitter.com/2oQTGkU7QC

— Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (@Kgosientsho_R) September 17, 2023

“Thereafter, Stage 4 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 on Monday until 05:00 on Tuesday, followed by Stage 2 load shedding from 05:00 until 16:00.

“This pattern will be repeated daily until further notice. Eskom will publish another update should any significant changes occur,” Mokwena said.

ALSO READ: De Ruyter could face legal action for ‘unauthorised’ Eskom probe – SIU

Improved performance

Meanwhile, electricity minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa reported a slight improvement in the national grid following a week of severe load shedding.

Ramokgopa gave update on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan (EAP) on Sunday after a week of stage 5 and 6 power cuts.

The electricity minister also confirmed the return of Unit 4 at Kusile power station on Sunday morning that was put on planned maintenance.

Ramokgopa said this resulted in the reduction of load shedding.

“This milestone means generating capacity will be ramped up by 800MW into the grid, resulting in the reduction of one stage of Load shedding.”

However he said they will continue with planned maintenance.

“When we opened the week on Monday the 11^th of September, the available capacity was sitting at 26 332MW and as we closed the week, this period that I am assessing we are sitting at 27 760MW.”

Summer period

Ramokgopa also said the warmer temperatures make it difficult for some generating units to perform optimally.

He said this resulted in load losses totalling nearly 6 000MW over the past few days.

“The other area of attention is the partial load losses. Essentially the units are on load and not necessarily failing but the units are not giving us the amount of megawatts that they should be giving us relative to the design capacity.

“And we know when we enter the summer period, it could be a function of ambient temperature. The more hot it gets, the more difficult it is for some of these units to perform and of course Matimba is a prime candidate of partial load losses that are likely going to increase as you go into the more extreme hot periods of the year,” Ramokgopa said.

Ramokgopa however added the partial load losses is receiving attention.

“It is something that is receiving attention to ensure that we don’t fall foul to such a situation. Of course of lot of engineering solutions will be required,” Ramokgopa said.

ALSO READ: ‘We want to put load shedding behind us in 2024’ − Mashatile