Johannesburg – Power utility Eskom has announced that it will be extending Stage 2 load shedding to next Thursday “in order to continue replenishing the emergency generation reserves”.
Eskom announced Stage 2 load shedding for the first time since July on Thursday night.
It said the power would continue to be cut only between 9pm and 5pm in order to address “additional risks”.
“In order to continue replenishing emergency generation reserves, Eskom regrets to inform the public that Stage 2 load shedding will be extended throughout the weekend starting from 21:00 this evening until 05:00 on Thursday morning.
“This load shedding is also necessary to address other additional risks in the generation fleet.
“During this time Eskom will be working hard to return a number of generating units to service and we urge the public to continue using electricity sparingly.
“Total breakdowns amount to 14 760MW while planned maintenance is 5 277MW of capacity,” Eskom said in a statement.
The power utility also said they were still recovering four units at Tutuka power plant which experienced conveyor belt failures.
“The fleet suffered a cluster of boiler tube leaks within a short period of time.
“Emergency reserves have been further depleted today due to breakdowns of a generating unit each at Kusile, Komati and Hendrina power stations.
“The return of a generating unit at Majuba power station today provided some relief, however, this was insufficient to curb the extensive use of emergency reserves.
“Eskom will communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power,” said Eskom.
IOL