Eskom To Implement Stage 2 Load Shedding From 9 am Today

JOHANNESBURG – Eskom has announced on Friday morning that stage 2 load shedding would continue from 9 am until 6 am on Saturday.

In a statement released on Friday morning, the power utility said its generating plants continued to perform at low levels of reliability, and its technical teams were unable to return units from planned and unplanned maintenance as scheduled.

Eskom said it’s system continued to be under severe pressure and it was using diesel at its open turbines to supplement capacity and to limit the level of load shedding.

Eskom said it was tapping into its diesel reserves as it struggled to keep the lights on.

Stage two requires that 2,000 megawatts be shed from the grid.

Eskom spokesperson Dikatso Mothae said: “We had anticipated that some units would return overnight, and some did and we lost some units overnight. So, we basically find ourselves in the same situation we were in yesterday when we had to implement stage two load shedding.”

Meanwhile, energy expert Chris Yelland said load shedding was a necessary inconvenience.

“No matter how negative load shedding is, it is an effort to avoid further blackouts on the system. In other words, if you simply carry on operating the power system in a state where demand exceeds supply; eventually things start tripping out and it will ultimately result in a full blackout,” he said.

EWN