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Eskom to reduce load shedding to stage 1 from Friday
Eskom cited persistent shortage of generation capacity for the deliberate power cuts.
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Eskom has announced that stage 2 load shedding will continue on Wednesday and Thursday night from 4pm until 12am.
The ailing parastatal said stage 1 load shedding will then be implemented on Friday, from 4pm until 12am.
Cause of load shedding
Eskom cited persistent shortage of generation capacity for the deliberate power cuts.
Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said Eskom will endeavour to limit load shedding to nights only so it has a minimal impact on the economy and population.
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“Eskom will publish a further update on Friday afternoon, or as soon as any significant changes occur.”
Generation units
“Since Tuesday a generation unit each at Camden, Kriel, Kusile, Matla and Medupi power stations were returned to service. Two generating units at Majuba and one at Tutuka power stations were taken offline for repairs,” Mantshantsha said.
Mantshantsha added that Eskom currently has 5 021MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 760MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
“Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.”
The parastatal initially suspended deliberate power cuts last week Friday, but it was no surprise when it was reinstated 24 hours later.
eThekwini Klaarwater substation
Meanwhile, the eThekwini Municipality said the cause of the explosion that caused widespread outages in Durban is being investigated.
The City of eThekwini was plunged into darkness on Tuesday night, after the 275 kilo Volt Klaarwater substation exploded.
The substation is a key electricity supply point to Durban from Eskom.
Power was restored in most parts of Durban following the blast.
The eThekwini municipality apologised to residents for the outage and inconveniences caused.
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