Load shedding continues all night on Thursday

Eskom has confirmed load shedding will be implemented throughout Thursday night.

Eskom announced it would implement stage 2 load shedding on Tuesday, this week, as a result of a shortage in generation capacity.

The parastatal updated its notice to confirm load shedding will be implemented throughout Thursday night and continue until Saturday.

“In addition to the loadshedding currently underway, Eskom advises that Stage 2 will be implemented throughout Thursday night (previously scheduled to stop at 10 pm.)

“Stage 2 loadshedding will then continue to be implemented at 5 am – 10 pm daily as previously announced.”

Eskom said Thursday’s overnight outage was required to manage and preserve the “pumped storage dam levels.”

The power utility also cited emergency generation reserves, which were utilized extensively over the past four days as a reason for the overnight blackout.

“We currently have 4 588MW on planned maintenance, while another 15 204 MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”

It urged all consumers to continue using electricity sparingly.

The power utility has maintained Stage 2 power cuts since Tuesday.

Proposed power cuts will be between the hours of 5 am and 10 pm until Saturday night, a result of breakdowns and delays in returning some of the units back to service.

“Eskom will promptly communicate should there be any significant changes,” Eskom said in a statement.

Breakdown of a generation unit at Arnot, Duvha, Kendal, Medupi and Tutuka power stations, as well as the delays in returning to service a unit to service at Hendrina power station, have exacerbated the capacity constraints.

This weekend, Unit 2 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station tripped from full power during the routine testing of the control rod system.

“We currently have 4 588MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 142MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”

The power utility has been buckling in recent weeks after it announced a series of blackouts less than two weeks ago.

Also read: Load shedding tonight and everyday this week

Featured image: Unsplash/Jeremy Perkins