Pretoria - The risk of load-shedding today is low with the Majuba power station ramping up its production, Eskom said.
“The risk of load shedding is low today due to the increased generating capacity at the Majuba power station which is now at 1 400MW. More units from Majuba are due to be synchronised to the grid later today with the potential of increasing generating capacity to 3 200MW,” said Eskom on Wednesday afternoon.
The country experienced rolling blackouts at the weekend after one of the silos at the Majuba power station, which is located in Mpumalanga, cracked and later collapsed on Saturday. The silo had housed over 10 000 tons of coal.
The recovery programme at the power station that is located in Mpumalanga was on Wednesday proceeding well having surpassed expectation.
Eskom’s team has been working around the clock moving coal from stock piles to the conveyer belts which are the link to the generating units.
“The wet weather does pose a challenge especially at Majuba given that some of the coal handling is taking place out in the open. We have implemented a wet coal management strategy to ensure that the wet coal risk is reduced in our other power stations. It is however not possible to neutralise this risk completely, especially over periods of prolonged, high rainfall,” said Eskom.
Dam levels at Eskom’s peaking power stations which use water to generate electricity are depleting. However projections are that if things stay as they are, the probability of load shedding during the rest of this week is low.
“The weekend will be used to restore operating reserves and dam levels at our pumped storage stations which will prepare us for next week. We anticipate being able to do this without needing any load shedding.”
The system is expected to remain constrained today and tomorrow with projections indicating similar constraints next week.
“As such, Eskom appeals to consumers to reduce their electricity usage throughout the day, but especially from 6pm to 10pm. Should we need to go into load shedding, customers will be alerted as early as possible.”
Eskom’s load shedding schedules are available for Eskom direct customers on our website (http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/). Customers can also contact our Call Centre on 0860 037 566 for additional information.
Load shedding schedules will only be utilised for the duration of the constraint and Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system. - SAnews.gov.za
