The deliberate power cuts have frustrated South Africans. Photo: iStock
Eskom announced on Tuesday that the power utility will be implementing stage 1 load shedding daily, while stage 2 load shedding will be implemented every night until Friday.
This despite a statement on Sunday saying stage 2 of the rolling blackouts would be implemented from 5am on Monday until 5am on Tuesday.
“Stage 2 load shedding will continue to be implemented on a daily basis at 16:00 – 05:00 until Friday. Stage 1 load shedding will then be implemented daily at 05:00 – 16:00 until Friday,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha in a statement.
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According to Eskom, the extended load shedding is due to the need to preserve emergency generation reserves, the delay in returning four generating units to service, while many running units are operating at reduced capacity due to technical faults.
Eskom said it would publish an update as soon as there are any significant changes.
“The delay in the return of two generating units at Camden, one unit each at Kendal and Matimba power stations have contributed to the generation capacity shortages.
“We currently have 3 945MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 499MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”
The power utility maintains that load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.
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