Eskom moves SA to stage 1 load shedding

Eskom has announced that load shedding will be downgraded to stage 1 from Wednesday 5am, and will continue until 5am on Saturday.

“The generation system is still severely constrained. Since Monday Eskom teams successfully returned four generation units at Kusile, Grootvlei, Kriel and Matla, as well as the Cahora Bassa line from Mozambique.

“However, this has not been sufficient to suspend load shedding at this point,” the power utility said in a statement on Tuesday.

Eskom also said that the return to service of four other units had been delayed, “prolonging the need to continue implementing load shedding. Eskom is working hard to return the units back to service as soon as possible”.

ALSO READ: Five more dark years ahead, despite Eskom’s maintenance going well

The country has been on stage 2 load shedding since last Wednesday, with an update this past Sunday saying stage 2 load shedding would continue until 5am on Wednesday, 17 March.

On Monday, Eskom chief executive officer (CEO) André de Ruyter said the power utility had managed to sustain high levels of maintenance of its power stations since last year, which had also contributed to the increased risk of load shedding.

He also warned that there would be a continued electricity supply shortfall of about 4000MW over the next five years due to capacity challenges.

“Capacity challenges will remain one of the key challenges South Africa will continue to grapple with. The ultimate aim is to improve performance to reduce the risk of load shedding. The enormity of this task cannot be overstated,” De Ruyter said.

ALSO READ: SA spent 9% of 2020 without power, thanks to load shedding

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe

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