Back to stage-6 power cuts – and no end in sight

The generation problems at Eskom worsened on Monday, with the state-owned utility planning to push load shedding to stage 6 – where it will stay at until further notice.

In a statement posted to X/Twitter, Eskom blamed an increase in planned maintenance — it does this in the summer months when demand is lower — as well as breakdowns of two additional generating units for the severity of the power cuts. It said it had nearly 6GW out of service for routine maintenance work, with an additional 16.2GW unavailable due to breakdowns.

As a result, load shedding will be escalated from the current stage 5 – where 5GW is not available to the grid – to stage 6, equalling the highest official cuts that the utility has imposed on South Africa.  – © 2023 NewsCentral Media

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