Eskom says it plans to cut 2 000 MW from grid

Eskom will cut 2 000 MW of supply from the national grid because it lost additional generating units overnight.

Eskom had earlier said it would cut 1 000 megawatts through rotational blackouts, known locally as load-shedding, the Johannesburg-based utility said in a statement on its website Friday.

The company that’s Africa’s biggest power producer is struggling with declining demand, aging plants and delays in new facilities as it takes steps to emerge from multiple scandals involving graft and mismanagement. The company, which has been identified by ratings agencies as a key threat to South Africa’s economy, is discussing its turnaround plan with the Department of Public Enterprises and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

First-half profit plunged 89% and the company’s debt burden is “impossibly high,” chairman Jabu Mabuza said this week.

Read: Eskom needs a bailout

� L.P