No load shedding this week
Consumers urged to use electricity sparingly for the remainder of the week.
WHILE the probability of load shedding for the week is low, Zululanders are urged to ease the stress on the national power grid by switching off all non-essential appliances especially during peak periods.
This comes after the country experienced rolling blackouts on Sunday after a coal silo at the Majuba power station in Mpumalanga collapsed.
While load shedding was temporarily stopped by Eskom on Monday, the City of uMhlathuze said the power system was expected to be severely constrained for the rest of the week.
‘This is as a result of the loss of 1 800MW at the Majuba power station. Customers are urged to switch off pool pumps, turn air-conditioning to 23°C and to switch off geysers and unnecessary lights to limit the impact of the load shedding,’ said a City notice on Monday.
As a precautionary measure, the City further released a precautionary load shedding schedule should Eskom implement emergency load curtailment during the week.
‘This is a national problem and people must conserve electricity,’ uMhlathuze Municipal Manager Dr NJ Sibeko told the Zululand Observer.
‘There is definitely stress on the grid and Eskom will be compelled to rely on load shedding if there is a systems emergency. We are ready should Eskom request further rotational load reduction,’ Dr Sibeko said.
Power system
On Monday, the power utility’s Andrew Etzinger said they would not need to implement load shedding during the day.
‘However, the power system remains under pressure and consumers are urged to use electricity sparingly for the remainder of the week. We managed to restore coal supplies to two of the six units at the Majuba power station. This means that one third of the power station’s normal capacity is back in service,’ said Etzinger.
See the uMhlathuze emergency load shedding schedule HERE.
‘Eskom calls on consumers to urgently switch off geysers, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day to further reduce the impact of rotational load reduction. It remains important for all customers to ‘Beat the Peak’ from 5pm to 9pm, by maintaining or achieving 10% electricity savings especially in the commercial and residential sectors,’ said an Eskom media statement.
