Johannesburg – Eskom says it will implement Stage 4 load shedding until Thursday morning, and is set to drop to Stage 3 for the rest of the weekend.
"The implementation of Stage 4 load shedding will be maintained until 5am on Thursday morning. Load shedding will then be reduced to Stage 3 until 5am on Saturday morning.
"The continued load shedding is necessary due to the shortage of generation capacity as a result of persistent high levels of breakdowns, and to further replenish the emergency generation reserves. Eskom will publish a further update on Friday afternoon, or as soon as there are any significant changes," said Eskom spokesperson Sikhonathi Matshantsha.
Eskom said a generation unit each at Arnot, Kriel, Lethabo, Matla, as well as two units at Camden power station had returned to service since last night.
A generating unit each at Hendrina, Kendal and Majuba power stations were taken offline for repairs.
"Furthermore, the delay in returning a generating unit each to service at Kendal, Komati and Tutuka power stations have added to the capacity constraints.
"We currently have 6 647MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 692MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns."
The power supplier again apologised for the continued load shedding, which it said was implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.
On Tuesday, Eskom escalated load shedding to stage 4 after generation units tripped at Kendal and Lethabo power stations.
"A generation unit each at Kendal and Lethabo power stations has just tripped. This necessitates the immediate escalation of load shedding to stage 4 at 18:00. This stage of load shedding will be maintained until further notice," Eskom said
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