Stage-4 power cuts as Eskom battles plant problems

Many South Africans are still be on holiday. Yet Eskom is steadily ratcheting up its rolling power cuts – now going to stage 4 with effect from 4pm on Thursday – and setting the stage for a year of intense load shedding.

The move to stage 4 comes just a day after the state-owned utility announced that it was pushing the power cuts to stage 3 until further notice.

“Stage-4 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm this afternoon (Thursday) until 5am tomorrow (Friday) morning. Thereafter, stage 3 will be implemented until 4pm on Friday. This pattern will be repeated until Sunday morning,” Eskom said in a statement.

The utility blamed a delay in returning seven generating units to service for the escalation in load shedding.

“The further delays in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Camden, Kendal, Kriel and Matla, and two units at Majuba power station, have contributed to the capacity constraints,” it said.

“We currently have 6 014MW on planned maintenance, while another 17 278MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and delays in returning generators to service.”  — © 2023 NewsCentral Media

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