Eskom warns of more load shedding

Power utility Eskom asked South Africans to use electricity sparingly on Monday, warning that any further losses of generation capacity could result in the resumption of load shedding at “very short notice”.

It says its generation system is “severely constrained”.

This load shedding warning comes after the utility suspended the latest round of load shedding on Friday – which spanned almost a week.

According to the latest alert issued by Eskom on Monday, the loss of multiple generation units during the weekend, together with delays it experienced with returning some units to service is what is currently putting pressure on its systems.

“Eskom is working on returning a generation unit each at Matimba, Duvha and Arnot power stations to service before the evening peak,” Eskom says.

“Today a generation unit each at Arnot, Kendal, Matla and Tutuka power stations have been returned to service.”

Eskom says it currently has 4 533 megawatts (MW) out on planned maintenance and another 13 601MW of its capacity out due to unplanned breakdowns.

Eskom further notes that it will be tapping into its emergency reserves to meet the electricity demand this evening.

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