Eskom aims to avoid power cuts as coal shortage persists

Eskom says it is doing everything possible to avoid load shedding.

This after Energy Advisor, Ted Blom warned that the situation is dire and there could be a blackout by the end of this week.

Eskom is experiencing coal shortages at seven of its power stations.

The power utility says it’s in discussions with the Gupta-owned Optimum Coal Mine’s business rescue practitioners to ensure that its coal supply is not disrupted.

Speaking on Sunrise Eskom’s spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe, says the power utility is diverting excess coal to the stations that are running low to ensure there are no blackouts.

“The issue of load shedding can happen at any time. It can happen due to multiple things such as six or seven power stations not functioning properly. But once you have done maintenance of your systems, we have enough coal and systems are working at optimum levels then we avoid load shedding as we have done over the last three years. So we have done everything possible to make sure that we don’t go there again. We usually do a lot of maintenance in summer in preparation for winter. So if there is going to be any load shedding the risk is higher in summer than winter.”