Eskom on Wednesday warned that rotational blackouts could return at any moment as it is struggling to meet South Africa’s demand for electricity.
In a statement, the state-owned monopoly said the power system is “extremely constrained this afternoon as the return to service of five generation units has been delayed, while a further two have either been shut down or have tripped”.
It urged South Africans to reduce their electricity consumption “to help us power the country through the evening peak”.
The utility, which last implemented load shedding 27 days ago, said the return to service of two generation units at the Tutuka power station has been delayed. Meanwhile, the return to the grid of a unit each at the Duvha, Matimba and Kusile power stations has also been delayed.
“An additional unit at Tutuka tripped this afternoon while Kusile’s unit 1 has been shut down. Eskom teams are hard at work to return these units to service,” it said.
The company has 5.5GW of capacity out on planned maintenance, with an eye-watering 11GW unavailable due to unplanned maintenance.
“The constrained system may persist for the rest of the week,” it said. — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media
