Load shedding picture shows some improvement

Load shedding is expected to be reduced to stage 3 from 5am on Tuesday following the return to service of several power generating units over the course of the weekend.

The country experienced stage-6 and stage-5 load shedding last week.

“Load shedding will then be reduced to stage 3 at 5am to 4pm on both Tuesday and Wednesday, while stage 4 will be implemented during 4pm to 5am on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Eskom will publish another update as soon as any significant changes occur,” the power utility said.

By Sunday evening, Eskom was battling breakdowns amounting to 16.9GW with a further 4.8GW offline due to maintenance.

“Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit each at the Arnot, Grootvlei, Kendal, Medupi and Tutuka power stations were returned to service. Breakdowns at a unit each at Camden, Majuba and Matimba power stations caused units to be taken offline for repairs.

“The delay in returning a unit each to service at Arnot, Hendrina, Kendal, Medupi and Tutuka power stations are contributing to the current capacity constraints,” Eskom said.

Maintenance

Added to that, the power utility said it is also battling unavailability from its energy sources in Mozambique and the diesel-burning open-cycle gas turbines.

“Electricity imports from the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric scheme in Mozambique have been halved to 600MW due to a tower failure on one of the lines from that country.

“Four open-cycle gas turbines at Ankerlig peaking station are out of service until 15 March for planned maintenance,” said the power utility.

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