Eskom has officially confirmed that is has implemented stage of load shedding and the power cuts will commence from Thursday midday all the way through to Sunday night. 
 
Eskom says the load shedding is necessary due to the loss of generation capacity overnight. They further stated that load shedding is also required to manage the use of the emergency reserves, which will help contain the stage of load shedding required. The system remains vulnerable and unpredictable, should any further breakdowns occur, the stage of load shedding may change at short notice.

 

 

" Two generation units at the Kusile Power Station tripped due to the failure of the main coal feed conveyor belts supplying coal to the units. In addition, a unit each at the Kriel and Duvha tripped due to unforeseen breakdowns. We presently have four generation units whose return to service from planned maintenance has been delayed." 

 

Eskom says they currently have 5 358MW on planned maintenance, while another 14 748MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned maintenance, breakdowns and the outage delays mentioned above.