Eskom CEO André de Ruyter says there is no imminent system collapse, despite currently problems experienced at the power utility.

De Ruyter spoke in a media briefing this morning after the sudden implementation of stage 6 load-shedding at 04:19.

He explains that load-shedding is a manageable tool that allows them to avoid a total system collapse.

De Ruyter says the system was under tremendous pressure this week and that unplanned losses equated to 15 630MW. “As a result of the unplanned losses, we had to make use of our emergency resources, which we urgently need to replenish.”

He adds that thus far, more than R7.7b has been spent on diesel as emergency resource, which is more than their yearly budget.

“We have been made available another R500m to buy more diesel, which is currently expensive to purchase due to high fuel prices. We expect that some of our generation units will return by this evening and on Monday morning,” he explains.

Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer says despite some of the generation units returning, the power utility cannot yet commit to a time when stage 6 blackouts will be reduced.

“The system is constantly monitored and as soon as the system allows, we will lower the stage of load-shedding. It all depends on what happens to day and a call will most probably be made at 17:00,” Oberholzer adds.

He says they had a net loss of 4GW of power during the week. “Multiple unit trips have a severe impact on the system and the minor defects become problematic. Our utilisation of an ageing coal fleet unit is too high at more than 90% and then results in breakdowns.”

Oberholzer says that diesel levels are low at a number of plants and that it is critical that they replenish these resources.

“As fuel is mostly transported by road tankers, we can only expect these diesel levels to replenish later this week. We do, however, expect that some of our dams will be full and able to assist in generating power by tomorrow morning.”

Eskom systems operator Isabel Fick says they have not planned beyond stage 8 load-shedding, but that if blackouts should reach this stage, supply will be taken off per province.

De Ruyter concludes that high stages of load-shedding can be expected throughout the week. He urges South Africans to assist and that every little bit makes a difference.