‘Power system expected to be constrained at night’
No planned load shedding at this stage.
Electricity giant Eskom confirmed there is currently no planned load shedding as there is enough generating capacity to meet the demand.
However, the power system is expected to be constrained during the evening peak period (5pm to 9pm) mainly due to the increased electricity demand and generating units being out of service due to maintenance.
“The electricity system remains significantly constrained today and for the rest of the week. This means that the risk of load shedding is very high during evening peak periods. We therefore request that South Africans continue to use electricity sparingly and make this a lifestyle as we are managing a very tight system.”
Eskom calls on all South Africans to pull together over the next few months and use electricity sparingly.
Should load shedding be implemented tonight Thursday 14 May, see your load shedding schedule below:
In other news, Eskom was pleased to announce that the first unit of its new power station, Medupi Unit 6, reached a new output level of 735MW generated on Monday, (11 May). The unit ran for a record of six days and four hours without a trip until Sunday, 3 May.
According to Eskom’s Acting Chief Executive Brian Molefea “This is a significant achievement since its successful synchronisation on 2 March 2015 and indicates that it is closer to achieve the maximum load of 794 MW.
“We are pleased with this significant milestone and believe that power from this unit will go a long way in alleviating the capacity challenges we are facing. We commend the Project Team for their hard work and level of commitment in these trying times and this achievement gives a strong indication that we are steadily turning the corner in our quest to ease the pressure on the national power grid.”
Medupi Unit 6 is being progressively commissioned and optimised to ensure that the power it delivers is stable, consistent and reliable. During this testing phase, the unit is not expected to stay on load for long periods of time and will deliver power intermittently.
However, during the peak demand periods, testing stops and power is generated to alleviate pressure on the grid. Such calls to alleviate pressure on the grid have seen the unit generating electricity for 147 hours continuously which also serves to prove Unit 6’s capability thus far.
Medupi consists of six units of approximately 794 MW each, for a grand total of 4 764MW, which is approximately 12 per cent of Eskom’s total installed capacity. Once complete, Medupi will be the fourth largest coal power station and the largest dry-cooled power station in the world.
Unit 6 will progressively be tested and fine-tuned further until the project is satisfied that the systems are fully operable and reliable for final handover. This is also to ensure that the unit is safe to operate, and will perform exactly as designed for the next 50 years.
