Cape Town – South Africa’s troubled power utility, Eskom, implemented stage 4 load shedding at 05:26am on Friday.
Eskom said in a statement that load shedding will remain on stage 4 until further notice.
The move was prompted by breakdowns and diesel shortage, it said.
“Breakdowns amounting to 17,056MW of generation capacity, low pumped storage dam levels and a lack of diesel are the reasons for the increase in load-shedding,” the statement read.
#LoadsheddingUpdate#Stage4 load shedding was implemented at 05:26 this morning until further notice. Breakdowns amounting to 17 056MW of generation capacity, low pumped storage dam levels and lack of diesel are the reasons for the increase in loadshedding.
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) November 18, 2022
This came after Eskom warned of prolonged blackouts over the next few months earlier this week, saying this was due to major capital projects and repairs that are set to reduce an already constrained generation capacity by 2 300MW, Eskom said in a statement.
On Tuesday Eskom said that since January, the country had experienced 155 days of load-shedding by heavily relying on the extensive use of open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), burning millions of litres of diesel to limit the stage of load shedding.
“Due to the vulnerability and unpredictability of the power system, coupled with the major capital projects, maintenance and major repairs to be executed starting during the next few months, the risk of continued load shedding remains quite high,” said Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
