Load shedding set to continue until Monday morning – Eskom

NATIONAL NEWS - Eskom has announced that rolling blackouts will continue until Monday morning in varying stages.

The embattled power utility on Thursday said stage 3 load shedding will be implemented until 05:00 on Friday morning.

Thereafter, stage 3 and 2 power cuts will again be implemented continuously from 16:00 on Friday until 05:00 Monday.

“Stage 3 load shedding will continue to be implemented until 05:00 on Friday morning. Load shedding will then be suspended for the day.

“Stage 3 load shedding will again be implemented starting from 16:00 on Friday until 05:00 Saturday morning. Stage 2 load shedding will then be implemented from 05:00 on Saturday until 05:00 on Monday morning,” Eskom said in a statement.

Load shedding schedule

Unit breakdowns

The parastatal said breakdowns of five generating units overnight on Wednesday, two of which have returned to service, have exacerbated current generation capacity shortages, forcing the escalation of load shedding.

It said since Thursday morning a generation unit each at Arnot and Kriel power stations have been returned to service.

“Two generation units at Kendal and one at Kusile power stations were taken offline for repairs. We currently have 5 146MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 434MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”

Eskom said it will publish a further update on Sunday, or as soon as any further significant changes occur.

Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen