Eskom: No load shedding this winter

According to a report by Eye Witness News (EWN), Eskom has assured the public that the load shedding which hit South Africa in March was not expected to return this winter.

This follows a statement released by the power utility on 15 May, warning the public that if electricity consumption was not reduced, load shedding would be implemented.

However, EWN reported that Eskom’s spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said, “The winter situation is very different to summer, fortunately. Our peak is very short and very high and if there was load shedding it would be for a very short period of time.”

According to Eskom’s latest system status bulletin, the power system would remain constrained for the foreseeable future, but Koeberg Unit 2 was currently being returned to service and was expected to be operating at full power by the end of the week.

The unit, which was offline for planned maintenance, was due to have returned to service almost two weeks ago, but had been delayed.

However, the power utility assured, “We are on track in terms of our planned maintenance schedule and have begun scaling it down to prepare for winter, while also managing unplanned outages that add more pressure to an already tight system.”

According to the bulletin released on 19 May, the capacity available to meet peak demand is 35 600 megawatts, while demand is forecast at 34 356 megawatts.

The power utility continued to appeal to customers to cut down on electricity consumption, adding that demand for electricity was at an “all-time high” during winter.

“Eskom calls on all consumers to pull together to help beat the peak over the next few months by using electricity sparingly particularly from 5pm to 9pm,” it said.

“We request all electricity customers to save at least 10 percent of their electricity usage and sustain these savings.”