Eskom avoids power cuts

State-owned power utility Eskom said on Monday it would not have to implement controlled power outages, after earlier warning these might be necessary due to pressure on the national grid.

Read: Eskom crisis deepens, load shedding narrowly averted

Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the nation’s power, was able to avoid controlled outages – known as load-shedding – after some power generating units were brought back into service and it was able to use diesel generators and renewable energy sources, spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said.

“The power system is currently stable, with no load-shedding being implemented despite a constrained national grid,” Phasiwe said on Twitter.

Phasiwe warned of possible load-shedding earlier on Monday following power constraints due to maintenance and unplanned outages at several of its electricity-generating units.

Last week, an employee was killed when the steam pressure from the boiler of a unit of Eskom’s Lethabo Power Station ruptured. The utility estimated the unit would be out of service for a minimum of three months.

Eskom, which has a total national output of 45 000 megawatts, carried out load-shedding in 2015, denting economic output.

Source: moneyweb.co.za