No power cuts until Tuesday as Eskom extends load shedding suspension

Eskom continues to be the bearer of good news extending its suspension of load shedding due to the improvement in generation capacity.

The rolling blackouts  was set to resume on Monday but has now been suspended until Tuesday.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said daytime load shedding will be suspended until further notice.

Load shedding schedule

“Due to the continued improved generation fleet performance and emergency reserves fully recovered, load shedding will remain suspended and only resume on Tuesday at 16:00. stage 1 load shedding will be implemented on Tuesday from 16:00 until 05:00 on Wednesday.

“Thereafter, load shedding will be suspended from 05:00 until 16:00, followed by stage 1 load shedding from 16:00 until 05:00 on Thursday.

Mokwena said this pattern will be repeated daily until further notice.

“Breakdowns are currently at 13 559MW, while planned maintenance is at 4 765MW of generation capacity. Demand forecast for the evening peak is 25 054MW. Eskom will communicate should any significant changes occur,” Mokwena said.

ALSO READ: Koeberg: Electricity minister ‘worried and extremely upset’

Koeberg Unit 1

Meanwhile, Eskom confirmed that Unit 1 at Koeberg Power Station is expected to start supplying electricity to the national grid by the end of October.

The unit, which generates 920MW, has been out of commission since December last year for maintenance.

The parastatal previously extended the expected date for the return to service of Unit 1 several times from the initial indicated completion date of mid-June 2023.

Mokwena said the return to service of Unit 1 is  good news.

“Over the past few days, many residents close to Koeberg power station might have noticed steam rising from the power station on some occasions.

“For the workers at Koeberg this is good news as it is an indication that the outage for Unit 1 is almost over,” Mokwena said.

Unit 2

Mokwena said the three steam generators on Unit 2 are scheduled for replacement in the upcoming Unit 2 outage, which will start once the Unit 1 commissioning is complete.

“Though this outage start date has been shifted to mid-November, the Koeberg team, together with the main contractor and their subcontractors, are using the experience gained from the installation on Unit 1 to reduce the outage period required to replace the steam generators on Unit 2,” Mokwena said.

Mokwena said the replacement of the steam generators was identified in the licence application for long-term operation of Koeberg that was submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR), as being a prerequisite for the station to operate safely beyond its original licensed operating period of 40 years (beyond 2024).

ALSO READ: Eskom on track to end load shedding with another Kusile unit now online