Load shedding escalates to stage 4
Eskom’s spokesperson says ongoing rain, the inability to replenish water and diesel resources and units failing to come back online mean load shedding will endure.
Eskom has announced that load shedding will move from Stage 2 to Stage 4 from 10 am until 11 pm on Monday.
This is due to the “additional loss of units at our power stations”, according to the struggling energy utility.
We regret that due to additional loss of units at our power stations, Stage 2 loadshedding will move to Stage 4 as from 10:00 to 23:00#Loadshedding@News24 @CityPowerJhb @City_Ekurhuleni @CityTshwane @CityofCT @eThekwiniM @CityofJoburgZA @TrafficSA @ewnupdates @SABCNewsOnline
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 9, 2019
It was reported earlier on Monday that Eskom would be likely to keep implementing load shedding for the rest of this week.
Eskom has only confirmed that it will stay in place until 11 pm on Monday without respite, first indicating that this would be Stage 2 load shedding before announcing the escalation to Stage 4 at 9:13 am.
Generating units have remained out of service due to breakdowns and the ongoing rain has wet the utility’s coal.
The utility said there was a “high probability” of load shedding until the end of the week. They have appealed to customers to help reduce demand on the system.
Date: 08 December 2019
Stage 2 rotational loadshedding will continue overnight and all day on Monday until 23:00 and the risk of loadshedding remains high for the week.@News24 @IOL@TimesLIVE @ewnupdates @SABCNewsOnline @SAfmRadio @POWER987News @ukhozi_fm pic.twitter.com/2lircWf6vi
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 8, 2019
“Last night [Thursday] we implemented load shedding because we wanted to augment water resources. Some of the units we expected to come back [online] did not come back,” Eskom’s spokesperson explained on Friday.
“Further to that, this morning [Friday], because of the rain, we are starting to experience coal-handling issues because some stations now have wet coal, and thus more units are not able to generate.”
They have said they suffered “unplanned breakdowns”, a phrase they have continued to use in subsequent communications.
The embattled power utility has been struggling with capacity after being hit by these “unplanned breakdowns” that went beyond the 10,500MW threshold.
They apologised to the country on Thursday and said that if people lowered their demand in a “concerted” way, it would help minimise strain on the grid.
However, a cold front and very wet weather have no doubt been putting pressure on the system.
Consumers have been advised to check their local schedules to see how they will be affected.
Read original story on citizen.co.za
