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Battling state power utility Eskom has ramped up load shedding to stage 5 until further notice, despite previous assurances that stage 3 and 4 rolling blackouts would be in place over the weekend.
But early on Saturday morning Eskom said it would increase the stage of load shedding “due to further breakdowns of generating units”.
Stage 5 was initially in place until 5am on Saturday, followed by stage 3 until 4pm, and then stage 4 until 5am on Sunday.
After the recent breakdowns, stage 4 load shedding will be implemented until 4pm on Saturday.
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Eskom then announced just before 2pm on Saturday that due to a shortage of generating capacity, stage 5 load shedding will be implemented until further notice.
The power utility said this was necessary following the failure of five generating units; three from Medupi Power Station and two from Duvha Power Station.
“Three of these units have since been returned to service today. However, Eskom has had to rely extensively on emergency reserves which now need to be replenished before Monday,” Eskom said in a statement.
Eskom said further update will be published as soon as any significant changes occur.
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Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has indicated that South Africans should brace for winter without electricity and that the next 150 days will be “very difficult”.
Eskom expects an increase of up to 3 700MW during the winter season, and an increase in rotational power cuts.
During the Energy Action Plan briefing on Friday, Ramokgopa said “the work on improving the energy availability factor is continuous”.
As of Friday, breakdowns were at 17 245 MW of generating capacity while 4 468 MW was out of service for planned maintenance.
At the time, three units were returned to service at Hendrina, Lethabo and Tutuka power stations.
However, Eskom warned said a generating unit had to be taken offline at Camden, Kendal, and Majuba each, while Duvha power station lost two units.
An additional delay in service of units at Arnot and Matla only added to the capacity constraints.
Director of Student Governance and Development at the Nelson Mandela University Dr Bernard Sebake said Ramokgopa’s appointment has not brought any significant improvement in the country’s power crisis.
He said Ramokgopa was merely a duplication of those in charge of Eskom who are aware of the real problem.
“We have had stage 8 but we have the minister of electricity. One would have thought the urgency with which he was appointed will be matched by the urgency to end load shedding,” Sebake lamented.
Additional reporting by Cheryl Kahla
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