By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Load shedding will continue to be implemented at Stage 5, with the possibility of reducing one stage by Thursday, Eskom said in a statement.
“Since yesterday afternoon four generation units at four power stations were taken offline for emergency repairs. These are a generating unit each at Arnot, Lethabo, Kendal and Majuba power stations,” Eskom said.
Seven units returned to service at Camden, Kendal, Kriel, Kusile, Lethabo and Majuba power stations.
While some generation units are anticipated to return to service, Eskom said it is necessary to continue at stage 5 load shedding to limit the use of the emergency generation reserves. “The emergency generation reserves are severely constrained by extensive utilisation to supplement generation capacity,” it said.
“We currently have 4,098MW on planned maintenance, while another 17,121MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns,” Eskom said.
Eskom meanwhile has approached the market to procure as much as 1 000MW of power on an expedited basis.
At a briefing on Sunday, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter explained as a way forward in addressing load shedding – which escalated to Stage 6 over the weekend – the power utility is looking to procure on an additional 1 000MW of capacity from existing Independent Power Producers and large industrial companies that have excess power capacity.
“The aim is to sign the first power supply agreement during the course of the current week, and for the power to start flowing through the grid as soon as possible,” Eskom said in a statement.
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.