Rustenburg – Stage 2 of load shedding will continue until Thursday and will then drop to Stage 1 on Friday, Eskom has said.
"Due to the persistent shortage of generation capacity, Stage 2 load shedding will continue tonight (Wednesday) and Thursday at 16:00–00:00. Stage 1 load shedding will then be implemented on Friday at 16:00–00:00," Eskom said in a statement.
"To the extent possible, Eskom will endeavour to limit load shedding to night-time to have minimal impact on the economy and population. Eskom will publish a further update on Friday afternoon, or as soon as any significant changes occur."
According to Eskom, since Tuesday a generation unit each at Camden, Kriel, Kusile, Matla and Medupi power stations were returned to service. Two generating units at Majuba and one at Tutuka power stations were taken off-line for repairs.
"We currently have 5 021MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 760MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
"Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns," Eskom said.
Stage 1 load shedding meant around 1000 megawatts of electricity would be cut from the national grid and can be implemented three times over a four-day period for two hours at a time.
IOL