Stage 2 load shedding to continue until Saturday 5am

South Africa’s embattled power utility, Eskom, has announced that stage 2 load shedding will continue for the rest of the week, until Saturday 5am.

The power utility provided an update on Tuesday on the current challenges that the system is facing.

Eskom implemented stage 2 load shedding on Monday.

Multiple generating unit failures

The power utility said there had been multiple generating unit failures over the past 24 hours.

“A unit each at the Matla, Kendal, Matimba, Kusile and Grootvlei power stations tripped, while a unit each at Arnot and Hendrina power stations were forced shut down. This, in addition to other units that had tripped during the weekend, reduced available generation capacity, forcing Eskom to rely heavily on emergency generation reserves to keep the lights on.”

Eskom said Medupi Unit 3 also broke down, necessitating load shedding to be extended.

Speaking during a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer said the power utility had to utilise 17 Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) on Sunday, hampering its ability to replenish energy reserves.

“Kusile 4 and I must state the Kusile 4 is a non-commercial unit was also taken off for most of the day for basically capability and commissioning tests. Kusile has been supporting the system with about 600MW during the week days.”

Oberholzer said while some generators are expected to come back online, the outlook for the week is grim.

“Due to the unreliability and unpredictability of the generators and to prevent the need for any higher stage of load shedding, we, unfortunately, have to inform the public that we will continue with stage 2 load shedding up until 5 o’ clock on Saturday morning the 12^th of March.”

Oberholzer has apologized for the difficult situation and the negative impact load shedding is having on the people of South Africa and the economy.