By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Embattled power utility Eskom has announced that Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 to midnight on Tuesday evening.
“There is also a high probability that load shedding will require to be implemented during the same time on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings.Eskom will promptly communicate should a need arise,” it said.
The breakdowns of a single generation unit at Arnot Power Station and three at Tutuka Power Station during the last 24 hours, as well as the delays in returning units to service at Arnot, Kusile and Tutuka power stations, have put a severe strain on the power generation system.
Eskom said it currently has 4,550MW on planned maintenance, while another 14,182MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.
Meanwhile City of Johannesburg’s municipality intends buying 500 megawatts of electricity from independent producers to help avert ongoing power outages in the city.
A request for proposals is awaiting approval from the National Treasury and should be issued within weeks, mayor Mpho Phalatse said.
“We going to invite private companies to bid to work with government,” she said. “The kind of deals we want to put together should ensure that our revenue is protected,” and that the energy supply is stabilized, she said.
Eskom Holdings, the state utility that generates most of South Africa’s electricity, has subjected the country to rolling blackouts since 2008, because its mostly old and poorly maintained plants have been unable to meet demand.
The national government recently gave municipalities permission to generate their own energy or buy it in from other sources, with Cape Town having already announced plans to issue contracts to privately owned plants.
Johannesburg is considering a range of options to bolster its supply, including entering into long-term generation partnerships with private companies, and charging them a fee to access the city’s grid to enable them to transmit and sell the electricity they produce, Phalatse said.