Cape Town — Following a temporary loadshedding setback this past weekend, Eskom said it’s summer outlook remains unchanged as it looks to make loadshedding a thing of the past.
Eskom shocked South Africans as it announced Stage 3 loadshedding on Friday afternoon until Sunday morning when loadshedding was abruptly suspended at 6am on Sunday as it managed to replenish emergency reserves.
“Due to the sufficient replenishment of emergency reserves, loadshedding was suspended today at 6:00 in the morning. Eskom will provide updates if any significant changes occur,” it said.
Sunday, 02 February 2025: Due to the sufficient replenishment of emergency reserves, loadshedding was suspended today at 6:00 in the morning. Eskom will provide updates if any significant changes occur.
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 2, 2025
In a statement, Eskom said five coal-fired generation units were repaired and returned to service, which added 2 930 MW to the grid, with an additional 2 391 MW expected to be added by Monday.
The power utility acknowledged that loadshedding was a thing of the past, largely due to the success of the Energy Generation Plan. The power utility said that it’s Summer Outlook, which was published on 26 August 2024, is still unchanged.
“Currently, unplanned outages stand at 13 279MW and continue to trend downward, averaging 12 087MW. Planned maintenance outages account for 6 298MW and are aligned with our summer maintenance strategy to further improve reliability in preparation for winter 2025 and beyond,” Eskom CEO, Dan Morokane said.
The current electricity demand stands at 27 957MW, with the evening forecast standing at 24 456 MW. The power utility said it still faces a number of challenges including illegal connections, vandalism, meter tampering and unauthorised network operations and theft.
Morokane urged customers to avoid illegal connections, as this can negatively impact the entire local community. It is also essential for customers to ensure they purchase electricity only from authorised vendors. An update would be provided on Friday 7 February or as soon as any major changes occur.
Eskom suspends loadshedding following recovery of emergency reserves – Summer Outlook remains unchanged. pic.twitter.com/SepzPVfQTx
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 2, 2025
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
