Cape Town – Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has cautioned the public to brace for more and potentially higher levels of load shedding as Eskom increases maintenance on its power units.
The planned maintenance is part of Eskom’s strategy to address the electricity supply-demand gap during the winter season.
“The current intensity of load shedding as we are seeing it now is primarily on the back of us ramping up on planned outages,” Ramokgopa said on Saturday while updating the media on the progress made regarding the energy action plan (EAP).
The outages have reduced available generation capacity, increasing the likelihood of more severe load shedding.
Ramokgopa said that while some of Eskom’s generating units would be temporarily shut down for maintenance, this was a short-term measure to ensure they return online in good condition and can generate electricity for an extended period.
The minister emphasized that these are controlled intensity load shedding events designed to facilitate essential repairs.
Additionally, Ramokgopa mentioned that the unplanned capability loss factor (UCLF), which accounts for units that frequently trip offline unexpectedly, has decreased due to the planned outages. Eskom aims to keep the UCLF below 15,000 megawatts to improve available capacity.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
