No load shedding this festive season – says Eskom
With schools and businesses closing for the holidays, no load shedding is expected in December.
Residents can breathe a sigh of relief, with no load shedding expected this December.
This good news however, comes on the back of Eskom’s warnings that the public should brace itself for regular load shedding and even blackouts over the next few years.
Load shedding was implemented on Saturday and Sunday for the second consecutive weekend.
This weekend’s power outage was caused by the utilities continuing battles with water and diesel reserves.
Eskom said although it was able to increase the grid’s electricity supply after the weekend’s load shedding, the system remains tight.
The power utility has since been able to repair three of its generators and build up its water and diesel reserves.
But spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said electricity supply will require the use of emergency reserves.
“We are concerned that the usage of our diesel and pump storage power stations has been extensive during the course of Monday which does put the end of the week at risk, but we’ll keep the public informed in that regard.”
Etzinger however said the prognosis for the festive season looks good.
“As the schools close and as businesses close towards Christmas, we see a good amount of electricity which stabilises the grid.”
Meanwhile, Eskom will continue with planned maintenance through December, in an attempt to deal with the high demand again expected in January.
