Load shedding implemented for 24-hours as Eskom ‘breaks down’
Load shedding will continue at Stage 2 to until Friday 10 January as a result of Eskom’s staggering break down rate resulting in a dire lack of generational capacity.
South Africans will not be afforded a reprieve from protracted powerlessness, despite the utility, its new CEO Andre de Ruyter, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and even President Cyril Ramaphosa himself doing their ‘best’ to cure the plagued state owned enterprise.
Although Ramaphosa had assured South Africans that Eskom would not implement load shedding until mid-January, that promise has fallen flat, with rotational cuts putting citizens and the economy on the back foot at the start of a new year. Since the 1 January 2020, Eskom has enforced load shedding on four separate occasions with an approximate cost to the economy nearing R10 billion.
Eskom load shedding until Friday 10 January 2020
While the utility struggles to meet the country’s electrical demands, breakdowns, now exceeding 14 000 MW, typify Eskom’s death rattle, as incapacity reaches record-breaking levels.
On Thursday 9 January, after already scheduling Stage 2 load shedding earlier in the week ‘to accommodate the release of matric results’, Eskom announced that it would be forced to continue to programme, cutting power for almost 24 hours. The utility said:
“Load shedding Stage 2 will unfortunately have to continue from 08:00 this morning until 06:00 tomorrow morning (Friday).
We have lost additional generation capacity overnight with breakdowns of over 14 000 MW. Our emergency reserves are also insufficient to meet the demand for electricity during the day. As a result we have to load shed through the day until tomorrow.”
Prognosis for the weekend ahead
The utility added that task teams were working ‘tirelessly’ to mitigate the impact of load shedding and return generation units back to order.
Eskom is expected to provide a detailed outlook for the weekend’s schedule later on Thursday.
This is a developing story – check back for more details
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