Pretoria - Eskom will move from stage 1 to stage 2 load shedding this afternoon from 4pm lasting up until 10 pm, it said on Thursday.
Stage 1 load shedding allows for up to 1 000MW to be shed off the grid, while stage 2 allows for up to 2 000MW to be shed. Stage 3 load shedding allows for up to 4 000MW to be shed.
“The power system is currently severely constrained due to a shortage of generating capacity as several units are currently out of service for scheduled maintenance and others due to technical faults,” said Eskom.
The utility said its technicians are working hard to return these units back to service as soon as possible.
In addition to the units that are currently offline due to technical faults and planned maintenance, the situation was this morning exacerbated by a loss of 1 200MW of electricity imported from Mozambique due to technical faults at the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power station. This is in addition to the initial 300MW lost yesterday at the same power station.
Eskom urged all customers to use electricity sparingly and to switch off all non-essential appliances in order to reduce pressure on the national power grid.
Eskom will use the published load shedding schedules which are available on the Eskom website (http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za) for Eskom customers. Eskom customers can also contact it’s our customer call centre on 0860 037 566.
Municipal customers should contact their municipalities for information. –SAnews.gov.za
