After a three-week reprieve to consumers, Eskom has announced stage 2 and 3 of load shedding from Tuesday until Wednesday.
This was the longest period since 2002, that the country was not experiencing load shedding, and it allowed consumers and holidaymakers to enjoy the festive season without any power interruptions.
According to the power utility, the latest setback is due to the ongoing intensified maintenance aimed at enhancing fleet performance, after three generating units (2 148MW) failing to return online as expected.
“This coupled with a loss of six generating units (3 113), and projected increase in electricity demand requires stage 2 loadshedding to be implemented from 05:00 on
“Tuesday until 16:00, followed by stage 3 loadshedding until 05:00 on Wednesday.
“This pattern on stage 2 loadshedding in the morning and stage 3 in the evening will be repeated daily until further notice,” said Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena.
She said the utility will closely monitor the power system and communicate any changes should it be required.
The blackouts come a day after Eskom announced that Unit 5 of the Kusile Power Station Project was synchronised to the national grid for the first time on 31 December 2023.
The unit is expected to contribute an additional 800 megawatts to the country’s power system which was never part of the Eskom’s grid capacity.
According to Eskom, the unit will supply electricity intermittently during the testing and optimisation phase over the next six months before being transferred into commercial operation and the capacity officially added to the current Eskom fleet.
“As part of the Generation Recovery Plan, the synchronisation of Kusile Unit 5 marks another significant milestone of sustainably improving our generation performance.
This will contribute the much-needed power to the grid.
We are encouraged that that this achievement of our recovery plan immediately follows the return of the three units that were brought online from end September 2023, bringing a total of 3 200MW into the grid, which will further improve the energy availability factor (EAF) and help strengthen South Africa’s electricity capacity,” remarked Eskom’s Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo.
Meanwhile, Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has welcomed the synchronisation, adding that that “more work and efforts will continue towards adding more generation capacity to the grid to reduce and ultimately end loadshedding.”
