Eskom to cut 1 000 MW of power from grid on Sunday

Eskom will cut 1 000 megawatts of electricity from the strained national power grid on Sunday after high unplanned outages, a company spokesman said.

The power cuts – locally known as load-shedding – will be implemented from 1015 GMT to 2000 GMT, Khulu Phasiwe said on Twitter.

“Eskom has had to implement stage 1 load-shedding. Apologies for the inconvenience that this will cause,” Phasiwe said.

Eskom implements controlled power cuts to prevent the grid from being overwhelmed. Stage 1 power cuts shed up to 1 000 MW from the grid.

Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of South Africa’s power, last week warned of potential outages amid low coal inventories after a major supplier cut supplies and sought insolvency protection.