Eskom to continue using emergency reserves to supplement capacity

Eskom says it will continue to use emergency reserves to supplement capacity if necessary this weekend.

The power utility has confirmed that it has no plans to implement load shedding during this period. It however says the system is still under strain and it may revert to load shedding at short notice if there are any changes.

On Monday, Eskom implemented Stage 6 load shedding for the first time as it struggled to meet electricity demand.

“It’s important to note that the system remains quite constrained. However, from yesterday we were able to scale down the load shedding from Stage 2 to Stage 1, as the demand in electricity also reduced. At this stage, we are not load shedding and we do not expect to load-shed for the rest of the weekend. However, should anything unexpected happen on the system, it is important to note that we may need to load-shed at short notice,” says Eskom’ Spokesperson Dikatso Mothae.

Cost of load shedding

Costs range from interrupted production, customers being turned away, to damaged equipment. Economists say the current power cuts will push the fourth quarter economic growth into recession and that the consequences could be dire.

[embedded content]

Watch a related video below:

[embedded content]

Source: SABC News (sabcnews.com)