Eskom implements load shedding until Sunday

On Friday morning Eskom said it will continue implementing Stage 2 rotational loadshedding until Sunday (February 23) at 06:00 owing to increased unplanned breakdowns.

Although three generation units are expected to return to service on Friday (today), the power utility lost a further two units on Thursday night to unplanned breakdowns. As such Stage 2 loadshedding is necessary on Saturday “to replenish reserves to better prepare for the coming week.”

“Unplanned outages or breakdowns were at 11 562MW as at 06:40 this morning, while planned maintenance is 5 076MW. Emergency reserves are currently being utilised to supplement the shortage in capacity.”

Eskom emphasised that there is a possibility of increased loadshedding over the next 18 months as “critical maintenance” is being conducted.

Meanwhile Deputy President David Mabuza convened the inaugural meeting of the Eskom Task Team, formerly known as the Eskom War Room, at Parliament on Thursday.

The Task Team, chaired by Deputy President Mabuza was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to, among other things, provide political oversight and address the Eskom power generation crisis as well as consider effective implementation mechanisms of the National Emergency Response Plan.

“Today’s meeting is in recognition that swift and decisive action needs to be taken to respond to the prevailing crisis of energy supply, which is informed by challenges in Eskom. We thus have to urgently address the negative impact that power outages is having on the daily lives of the people and the economy,” said Mabuza.

“The roadmap presented by Eskom gives an indication that there is now a focused approach to how we respond to this crisis in a much more concrete manner. All relevant stakeholders must work together with speed and be focused on resolving this crisis.”

The Task Team includes the Ministers of Public Enterprises, Mineral Resources and Energy, Finance, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, State Security, Police, the Presidency and representatives of Eskom.

The Presidency stated that a Technical Team has also been established to strengthen the task team, with strategic technical support and expert input. It will meet weekly to assess progress in implementing measures proposed by the Task Team.