Stage-6 load shedding to make an unwelcome return

The crisis at Eskom continues to spiral, with no obvious end in sight. The state-owned utility said it will impose stage-6 load shedding on Tuesday evening as it fights breakdowns at its underperforming coal-fired power stations.

Eskom, which had been cutting the power at stage 4 – meaning the demand/supply gap is 4GW – said load shedding will increase to stage 5 at midday on Tuesday.

Then, at 9pm, the cuts will be escalated to stage 6, which Eskom expects to last until 5am on Wednesday, when it intends shifting back to stage 5. It will then stay at stage 5 until 5am on Friday, after which it anticipates gearing the blackouts down to stage 4.

Read: Ramaphosa wants state of disaster to deal with Eskom crisis

The reason for the deteriorating situation is clear: Eskom has 18.1GW of unplanned breakdowns. In the past 24 hours, six generating units went offline. Compounding matters, a unit each at Duvha and Hendrina have not yet returned to service.

Read: Eskom crisis triggers water cuts across Joburg

A generating unit each has been returned to service at the Matla and Arnot power stations, while there has been a delay in returning a generating unit each at Duvha, Kendal, Grootvlei and Kriel power stations.  – © 2023 NewsCentral Media

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