Stage 2 load shedding strikes overnight
The entity says it needs to build up emergency reserves again overnight, which may not be enough to avoid further load shedding anyway
Picture: iStock
After power utility Eskom said on Thursday that although the electricity system remained constrained and vulnerable, and load shedding was not expected, it gave South Africa a two-hour warning this evening that stage 2 load shedding would be implemented from 10pm until 5am.
Date: 7 November 2019
Eskom will implement stage 2 loadshedding this evening from 22:00 until 05:00@News24 @SABCNewsOnline @IOL@ewnupdates @TimesLIVE @SowetanLIVE @SAfmnews @ukhoz pic.twitter.com/JUYsGDK4lc
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) November 7, 2019
In a statement, Eskom said they had lost three additional generation units and used up emergency reserves that needed overnight replenishment.
Load shedding was definitely on the cards for the rest of Friday too.
In a statement, the entity had earlier said the electricity was still “under severe pressure with more than 10,500MW unavailable due to planned and unplanned breakdowns at coal-fired power generating stations”.
Eskom said its emergency response command centre would continue to monitor the system and with implementing contingencies to avoid and/or minimise load shedding for the week.
“We remind customers that any unexpected shift, such as additional unplanned breakdowns or the unavailability of diesel for our open cycle gas turbines or water levels at our pumped storage schemes could result in load shedding at short notice.”
The entity appealed to customers to continue using electricity sparingly.
(Compiled by Charles Cilliers and Makhosandile Zulu)
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