Eskom has announced that it will implement stage 2 load-shedding on Thursday and Friday across South Africa.
“We regret that stage 2 rotational load-shedding will be implemented from 09:00 today until 06:00 on Saturday owing to the loss of three additional units overnight that has increased the shortage in capacity,” Eskom said.
The power utility added that there is a high probability load-shedding will continue over the weekend – as it needs to replenish power reserves for the following week.
On Thursday at 05:30, unplanned outages or breakdowns were at 11,938MW, while planned maintenance stood at 4,654MW.
Eskom said although it regrets the short notice, it had communicated earlier that any shift in the system could result in load-shedding.
Eskom fights for higher tariffs
Eskom is also currently engaged in a court battle with Nersa over tariff increases.
The North Gauteng High Court recently dismissed Eskom’s urgent application to get back R58.5 billion from customers through two big price increases.
Eskom wanted the price of electricity to be increased by 16.6% on 1 April 2020, with a further 16.7% price hike on 1 April 2021.
Although the court considered the matter not to be urgent, Judge Jody Kollapen said there were merits to Eskom’s case.
These will be heard in “part B” of the application, which means that big future tariff increases are still a possibility.
