Cape Town – Eskom has warned that it might have to ramp up load shedding to even higher stages if it does not receive delivery of diesel.
The power utility said this in a statement on Sunday, as it issued an updated load shedding schedule for the week.
It announced that stage 3 load shedding will continue to be implemented between 00:00 and 16:00 until Thursday, while stage 4 load shedding will be implemented daily during the evening peaks from 16:00 until 00:00.
“Eskom is still experiencing constraints from its diesel suppliers that is affecting the availability of bulk diesel to the Ankerlig and Gourikwa Open Cycle Gas Turbines, which have a combined capacity of 2 000MW.
Stage 3 loadshedding will continue to be implemented between 00:00 and 16:00 until Thursday, while Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented daily during the evening peaks from 16:00 until 00:00 pic.twitter.com/HyfpJXkgV9
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) September 25, 2022
“While we expect diesel deliveries from Tuesday onwards, should this uncertainty of supply persist, higher stages of load shedding may be required,” said Eskom.
Eskom Chief Executive Officer André de Ruyter revealed earlier this month that the power institute was struggling to buy diesel to run the OCGTs that kept the lights on, reported The Citizen.
“It is a fact that liquidity to buy further diesel is an issue. Five months of this financial year, we’ve already burnt our way through about R7.7 billion worth of diesel which is just about the budget for the whole year.
“Our Chief Financial Officer Calib Cassim has made available an additional R500 million to purchase more diesel. Of course, the diesel is made much more expensive due to political events and the higher oil price that currently prevails at the moment,” the report quoted De Ruyter as saying.
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Picture: Twitter/ @Eskom_SA
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
