Winter may be officially over, but that’s not going to stop Eskom from implementing rotational electricity blackouts this Spring Day.

The state-owned power monopoly said on Tuesday that it will implement stage-2 load shedding from midday to 10pm on 1 September as the power system is “severely constrained”.

Ten generation units at seven power stations suffered breakdowns in past 48 hours, Eskom said. A generator each broke down at the Arnot, Medupi, Lethabo and Matla power stations, while two units each at Majuba, Camdem and Tutuka are also down.

“This, together with the need to conserve emergency reserves, necessitates that load shedding be implemented to protect the integrity of the system,” it said. Unplanned breakdowns stand at 11.7GW, adding to 4.6GW out on planned maintenance.

“Any further deterioration in the generation performance may necessitate the escalation of load shedding at short notice,” Eskom warned. It said, too, that load shedding could continue for the rest of the week.  — © 2020 NewsCentral Media