And then there was stage 3…

Eskom will increase the level of load shedding for Monday and Tuesday because it lost more generation capacity over the weekend.

The beleaguered company, which runs 15 ageing coal-fired power stations, resumed rolling power cuts on Saturday between 5pm and 10pm, after suspending load shedding on Friday.

“On Monday and Tuesday evening, at the same times, load shedding will be implemented at stage 3,” Eskom said in a statement. “Thereafter, load shedding will be reduced to stage 2 for the rest of the week.”

One unit at three different power stations broke down on Saturday evening, Eskom said, making a third of its capacity non-operational due to unplanned outages. It has a nominal power generation capacity of just over 45GWW, according to its website.

Eskom warned on Wednesday that the country “desperately” needed between 4GW and 6GW of additional capacity and unless that demand is met, rolling blackouts will be a regular occurrence.

This year, up to 10 May, the utility has implemented 31 days of load shedding, compared to 26 days in the same period last year.  — (c) 2022 Reuters

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