Eskom has announced that it will implement stage 2 load-shedding from 09:00 on Friday 6 December until 06:00 on Saturday 7 December 2019.
This follows Eskom suddenly announcing stage 2 load-shedding at 16:00 on Thursday afternoon, which was terminated at 05:00 on Friday morning.
“As the generating plant continues to perform at low levels of reliability, our technical teams were unable to return units from planned or unplanned maintenance as scheduled,” Eskom said.
“With units not returning, we were unable to replenish water reserves overnight for our pumped storage schemes.”
“As the electricity system continues to remain under severe pressure with unplanned breakdowns remaining above 12.500MW, Stage 2 load-shedding will regrettably be implemented from 09:00 until 06:00 tomorrow morning,” Eskom added.
The power utility said it was currently using diesel at its open-cycle gas turbine to supplement its capacity and limit the level of load-shedding.
Eskom added that its technical teams continue to work around the clock to return additional power units to the grid, although the incessant rain is also causing coal-handling problems at a number of its power plants.
“This could further impact supply as the rainy weather persists. While not expected or planned, further deterioration of plant performance or the emergence of other risks may necessitate invoking further stages of load-shedding.”
The power utility said it would keep South Africans informed about the status of the electricity system.
