Eskom says it will implement Stage 1 loadshedding from 11pm on Sunday until 5am on Monday morning. It says from 5am on Monday, Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented.
The highly indebted power utility says the drop to Stage 1 overnight is due to the return of service of some generating units that had been delayed. It also wants to manage emergency generation reserves and identify risks to the power system.
Eskom has been implementing Stage 2 loadshedding for the last few days.
Eskom Spokesperson, Sikhonathi Mantshantsha says further updates will be communicated on Monday.
“The system remains constrained and vulnerable and Eskom will give a further update on the power situation on Monday afternoon. The return to service of two generation units at Kusile Power Station that were not available last week has been delayed due to difficulties in restarting the units. These are now expected return to service starting on Monday.”
Loadshedding will be reduced to Stage 1 from 23:00 until 05:00, and back to Stage 2 tomorrow@News24 @SABCNews @NewzroomAfrika @eNCA @IOL @ewnupdates @SundayTimesZA @SowetanLIVE pic.twitter.com/7h8fiGPl0v
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) January 17, 2021
Eskom explains implementation of Stage 2 loadshedding:
Meanwhile, Eskom says there’s a high risk of loadshedding until at least September this year.
Eskom Spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha says, “Loadshedding will be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future and we will really see a significant difference starting around September. At this particular point, we have got almost 15 000 megawatts of capacity that are out on unplanned breakdowns. Two units at the Kusile Power Station are not available. That is being addressed.”
