Eskom to continue to implement load shedding this week

In a statement on Friday, the power utility said unplanned breakdowns have increased the shortage in generation capacity.

Owing to unplanned breakdowns, Eskom will continue to implement rotational load shedding going into the weekend.

In a statement on Friday, the power utility said unplanned breakdowns have increased the shortage in generation capacity.

"Eskom will continue implementing Stage 2 rotational load shedding until Sunday at 6 am owing to unplanned breakdowns that have increased the shortage in generation capacity. While we expect three-generation units to return to service today, we lost a further two units last night to unplanned breakdowns," the company said.

Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented on Saturday to replenish reserves to better prepare for the coming week.

Unplanned outages or breakdowns were at 11 562MW as at 6:40 am this morning, while planned maintenance was at 5 076MW.

"Emergency reserves are currently being utilized to supplement the shortage in capacity. We will provide regular updates," Eskom said, adding that the system remains unpredictable and constrained.

Any shift on the system performance, said Eskom, will require a change in the depth of load shedding at short notice.

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)