Eskom Warns Power Cuts To Drag Into Weekend

Eskom has warned that loadshedding will continue through the weekend even with an expected reduction in demand.

Eskom said in a statement released on Wednesday that cold weather had placed additional demands on the country’s grid which was already severely constrained because of breakdowns.

As a result Eskom ramped-up load shedding to stage four on Wednesday afternoon.

Eskom said unplanned breakdowns amounted to 11 300MW of capacity, roughly a quarter of its total capacity. Approximately another 5 040MW is currently out on planned maintenance.

“Loadshedding will persist throughout the week as Eskom Teams work around the clock to return as many of these generation units to service as possible.”

Stage four load shedding began at 8am and is scheduled to last until 10pm.