Load shedding extended to Friday, Eskom confirms

Stage 2 load shedding will be implement until Friday morning due to shortage of generation capacity, Eskom has confirmed.

“Eskom regrets to inform the public that the implementation of Stage 2 load shedding will be extended to Wednesday night from 5pm until 5am and at the same time on Thursday night,” the power utility said in a statement on Tuesday evening.

Load shedding is expected to be suspended at 5am on Friday.

The extension, Eskom said, is due to shortage of generation capacity and continued delays in returning to service four generating units at Camden Power Station and two generating units at Tutuka Power Station.

ALSO READ: Eskom’s winter reminder: Use electricity sparingly to avoid power cuts

“A unit that had tripped at Lethabo Power Station this morning has returned to service this evening. This unit, however, will take some time to reach full production.”

Eskom further warned of the possibility of escalating load shedding, should the generation capacity deteriorate further.

“We currently have 4,804MW on planned maintenance, while another 15,300MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns.

“We are managing the emergency generation reserves to limit the stage of load shedding. The overnight load shedding will be used to replenish the dam levels at the pump storage power stations,” the power utility added.

Winter load shedding

Earlier in the day, Eskom briefed the media after it announced stage 2 load shedding would continue until Wednesday.

The power utility had initially suspended load shedding at 5am on Tuesday.

During the briefing, Eskom said the latest bout of power cuts was due to a shortage of generation capacity as well as the heavy rains and floods lashing KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

Eskom’s national control manager, Gavin Hurford, said they previously projected that there would be 61 days of possible load shedding during winter, due to the parastatal’s ongoing maintenance programme.

However, Hurford added, the scenario had changed over time and they were now predicting at least 100 days of rolling power cuts this winter.

READ MORE: Six ways to keep boredom at bay during load shedding

Hurford stressed that the scenario was not conclusive as the number of days of possible load shedding was dependent on several factors.

 “Those 100 days would be in the extreme,” he said.

“We don’t stay in that extreme situation every hour of every day of every month. So, one would expect it to vary in that range and certainly, there will be some load shedding.”

Meanwhile, Eskom chief executive officer (CEO) André de Ruyter said their forecasts on possible load shedding in the winter season were more like predicting the weather.

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe