Eskom can’t say when exactly the current bout of rolling blackouts will end. The state-owned power monopoly said on Wednesday that load shedding will continue until at least the weekend.

“Due to a shortage of generation capacity resulting from unplanned breakdowns, Eskom will continue implementing stage-4 load shedding until further notice,” it said in a statement.

A pump fault at the Koeberg nuclear power station, which tripped unit 1 at the facility earlier this week, is still being fixed and will only return to service at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Eskom is using emergency generation services, including burning diesel, to supplement supply.

“We are expecting some generation units to return to service today (Wednesday), which will help ease the supply constraints and reduce the stage of load shedding,” it said.  — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media