Eskom will escalate the load shedding level from 1 to 2 at 2pm on Wednesday after it blamed high demand for the need to ramp up the rolling nationwide blackouts.

The state-owned electricity monopoly said on Twitter that the power system is “extremely constrained as demand is constantly increasing”.

“We are currently 2 000MW higher than yesterday,” it said in a tweet.

Eskom earlier said it would implement only stage-1 load shedding on Wednesday after it successful returned a generation unit each at the Medupi and Majuba power stations to service. In addition, unit 2 at Koeberg was synchronised into the grid on Monday.

It said the return to service of a unit each at Tutuka and Kendal power stations has been delayed.

Demand for electricity is particularly high after a powerful cold front swept across South Africa in recent days, leaving a huge pool of bitterly cold air behind it.  — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media