ESKOM issued a statement to deny rumours of imminent stage 8 load shedding, saying that false information had been spread and the likelihood of reaching Stage 8 is low.
Eskom said an article claiming that stage 8 load shedding was imminent was ‘erroneous’ and ‘incorrect’.
Also read: Eskom to implement Stage 2 load shedding
“In keeping with Eskom’s obligations in terms of the Disaster Management Act, we are required to develop contingency plans for identified major incidents. A Severe Supply Constraint is one of these, for which we have plans in place. Eskom also continually improves these plans,” read the statement.
Load shedding is governed by a code that was hashed out by Eskom and the South African government in 2016.
Also read: Eskom to implement Stage 2 load shedding
“Eskom and the municipalities identified the need to extend the planning in place related to the number of stages of load shedding and the national code was subsequently updated after significant engagement with stakeholders in 2016/17. This has been published as NRS048-9 Ed.2 and it caters for 8 stages of load shedding. Each stage provides for a reduction in load of approximately five per cent which equates to roughly 1000MW at peak. Stage 8 equates to approximately an 8000 MW deficit,” read the statement.
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