Eskom will implement stage one power cuts from 5pm on Tuesday after it earlier cancelled rolling blackouts for the day.
“Due to a shortage of electricity generation capacity, Eskom will implement stage one load shedding at 5pm this afternoon, which will continue until 10pm this evening,” it said in a statement.
“The power system remains constrained and will remain so for the rest of this summer.”
Extra loads or faults in the system could push Eskom to move to stage two power cuts.
Stage one allows for up to 1000MW of the national load to be cut, stage two for up to 2GW, and stage three for up to 4GW.
On Tuesday morning, the power utility said it would implement power cuts from 10am to 10pm. Around 11am, it cancelled power cuts because there was a significant drop in electricity demand.
Eskom urged customers to reduce electricity usage. — Sapa