Eskom said in keeping with its obligations in terms of the Disaster Management Act it was required to develop contingency plans for identified major incidents.
“A severe supply constraint is one of these, for which we have plans in place,” the utility, which was forced to effect load shedding last year, suppressing electricity demand on a rotational basis to avoid overwhelming the grid as its generation units broke down largely due to years of inadequate maintenance.
Generally, Eskom has applied “stage 2” load shedding which involves suppressing up to 2,000 megawatts of demand, but last year it was forced to accelerate this to an unprecedented “stage 6” as the grid came under immense pressure.
“Each stage provides for a reduction in load of approximately five percent which equates to roughly 1,000 MW at peak. Stage 8 equates to approximately an 8,000 MW deficit. The likelihood of reaching Stage 8 is low,” Eskom said on Tuesday.
The state company, which supplies about 95 percent of South Africa’s electricity, most of it coal fired, said it did not expect to implement rolling blackouts on Tuesday, having last done so on Friday.
