Eskom to implement stage 2 load shedding from today

Just one day after releasing its state of the system report, Eskom has announced the implementation of stage 2 load shedding, starting today.

Stage 2 load shedding

Tuesday to Saturday

Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from Tuesday at 9am, until 5am on Saturday, due to a shortage of generation capacity.

This despite Eskom teams successfully returning a unit each at the Kusile, Matimba and Arnot power stations during the early hours of this morning.

“Further delays in returning other units to service have exacerbated the capacity constraints, hampering the ability to replenish the emergency generation reserves.”

Generation units at risk of failure

Eskom said it expects to return five other units to service during the week.

However, the embattled power utility warns: “There are a number of generation units running with risk of failure that cannot be attended to at the moment due to the current capacity constraints.”

At the time of publishing, total breakdowns amount to 13,333MW, while planned maintenance is 5,548MW.

Previous changes to the schedule

On Monday, Eskom implemented load shedding earlier than usual: From 6pm instead of 9pm as previously communicated.

This was due to one unit lost at Kusile and Matimba, which resulted in 1,300MW being taken off the grid.

Poor maintenance

Eskom’s chief operating officer (COO) Jan Oberholzer said the generation sector of the power utility remains a concern, “mainly due to its age and a legacy of poor maintenance”.

Oberholzer acknowledged the burden of load shedding and the “significant damaging effect” it has on the economy, apologising for the current state of affairs.

“We do have plans and focus areas. We deal with a situation and system that is unreliable and unpredictable, and how neglected power stations are.”

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