Rustenburg - Eskom has announced that load shedding will continue to persist at Stage 5, with the possibility of dropping to lower levels by Thursday.
Eskom announced Stage 5 load shedding on Saturday, which quickly became Stage 6 around 4am on Sunday morning. It then reverted to Stage 5 from Monday midnight.
"Since yesterday (Monday) afternoon four generation units at four power stations were taken off-line for emergency repair. These are a generating unit at Arnnot, Lethabo, Kendal and Majuba power stations,“ Eskom said in a statement.
Seven units returned to service at Camden, Kendal, Kusile, Lethabo and Majuba power stations.
The power utility said while some units were expected to return to service, it was necessary to continue with Stage 5 load shedding to limit the use of the emergency generation reserves.
“The emergency generation reserves are severely constrained by extensive utilisation to supplement generation capacity.
“We currently have 4 098MW on planned maintenance, while 17 121MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”
Eskom apologised for the continued load shedding, which the power utility said was implemented as a last resort because of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.
Eskom implemented Stage 6 load shedding on Sunday, following the tripping of a generation unit each at Kusile and Kriel power stations.
Stage 6 load shedding equates to at least six hours without power per day, possibly in two-hour cycles.
Stage 5 load shedding meant around 5 000MW of electricity would be cut from the national grid in a staggered bid to prevent a complete grid collapse.
IOL