S.Africa's Eskom sees risk of 'Stage 6' power cuts later in day

South African state power company Eskom sees a "very real risk" of having to implement 'Stage 6' electricity cuts by 1700 local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, executives told a news conference, after 10 generation units went offline overnight.

Eskom ramped up power cuts to 'Stage 4', requiring up to 4,000 megawatts to be shed from the national grid, late last week after labour protests linked to deadlocked wage talks. The utility plans to meet with union leaders again on Tuesday to try to resolve issues relating to the strike, Eskom Chief Executive Andre de Ruyter said.

Eskom has only implemented 'Stage 6' power cuts once before, in December 2019, Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer said.