Just hours after Eskom warned it was struggling to meet electricity demand, the power utility on Monday announced that it was implementing Stage 4 load-shedding from 5 pm to 10 pm tonight.
“Due to a further loss of generating capacity, load-shedding will be increased to Stage 4 from 17:00 – 22:00 tonight,” announced Eskom, which had earlier on Monday upped load-shedding from Stage 2 to Stage 3.
Eskom said: “Unit 2 of the Kusile Power Station tripped earlier this afternoon, taking 720MW of generating capacity with it.
“While this unit has since returned to service, it will slowly load up to full capacity during the night.
“This added loss of capacity regretfully requires Eskom to increase load-shedding to Stage 4 from 17:00 until 22:00 tonight.”
The power utility said at Hendrina, Tutuka and Kriel power stations generating units were returned to service.
However, a unit each at Arnot Power Station was taken offline for repairs.
“We currently have 1 904MW on planned maintenance, while another 17 255MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns,” said Eskom.
The power utility appealed to all South Africans to help limit the impact of load-shedding by reducing the usage of electricity and to switch off all non-essential items.
Eskom reiterated that load-shedding was implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid.
“We therefore urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly, especially between 05:00 – 09:00 in the mornings and 16:00 – 22:00 in the evenings,” said Eskom.
