Eskom implements stage 3 load shedding until Monday

Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 3 load shedding from 2pm on Friday.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena confirmed to The Citizen that load shedding will continue until 5am on Monday due to the loss of 2 700MW of power over the past 14 hours.

The rolling blackouts come three weeks after the parastatal imposed stage 6 load shedding due to maintenance issues.

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Loss of capacity

Mokwena said they implemented load shedding after a loss of generation capacity.

“This includes Koeberg unit 2, which was taken offline after being brought back on Wednesday, and two Kusile units whose coal operations went sub-optimal following adverse weather in the area.

Koeberg

Earlier this week, Eskom assured South Africans that although unit 2 of the Koeberg nuclear power station tripped and had to be shut down, load shedding will remain suspended.

While the trip did not necessitate the implementation of rolling blackouts, Eskom said overall generation capacity remains constrained.

Mokwena said higher levels of planned maintenance outages aimed at winter preparation and meeting regulatory and environmental licensing requirements, are still underway.

Constrained capacity

“The constrained capacity resulted in the increased reliance on emergency reserves during this week, which makes it necessary to focus on replenishing these critical resources during the weekend in preparation for the business week,” Mokwena said.

Mokwena added that the events that triggered stage 3 load shedding occurred while the system was already under strain.

Aggressive maintenance

Last month, Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said Eskom will not back down on aggressive maintenance as it is the only permanent solution to load shedding.

According to the minister, although the aggressive maintenance has setbacks, it kept the country going without power cuts for months.

“The generation recovery plan is working but has its setbacks; we cannot postpone the maintenance,” said Ramokgopa.

“We continue to be on the right path in ensuring that we eradicate load shedding. We apologise for this setback and its intensity because we have not experienced this in a long time. The quickest path out of load shedding is to ensure that we get Eskom right.

“This is what I call short-term pain, long-term gain. We cannot postpone the maintenance of these assets.”

Summer outlook

Eskom group executive of generation Bheki Nxumalo said Eskom’s summer outlook, which was published in August last year, remains unchanged.

“We reiterate our commitment to ensuring that South Africa is in no way returning to the levels of load shedding that we experienced in 2023. Two years into delivering the generation recovery plan that will bring an end load shedding, we are at a challenging time and the full force of our highly skilled engineering resources are deployed and focussed,

“We have had some delays in returning units that previously tripped back to the grid, as well as to the return of three units that have been on longer-term outage that will bring back 2 500MW to the grid, which will happen over the coming weeks,” Nxumalo said.

Eskom said it would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as needed.

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