Johannesburg – Eskom on Saturday ramped-up load-shedding to Stage 5 after five generating units broke down overnight.
Announcing the higher level of load-shedding, the power utility said: “Regretfully, the breakdown of five generating units overnight and this morning, with a combined capacity of 2 400MW, has necessitated the escalation of load-shedding to Stage 5 from 10:00 this morning”.
Eskom added: “This load-shedding will be implemented until 05:00 on Monday.”
The power utility said a unit each at Kusile, Arnot, and Camden, as well as two units at Duvha Power Station, tripped.
“While some generation units are anticipated to return to service, it is necessary to escalate the load-shedding to stop the use of the emergency generation reserves and begin the replenishment thereof ahead of the week,” Eskom said.
Emergency generation reserves have been depleted by extensive utilisation to limit the amount of load-shedding over the past two weeks.
“We currently have 7 210MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 597MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns. Eskom will promptly communicate any further changes,” Eskom said.
The power utility apologised for the continued and unfortunate load-shedding.
However, Eskom warned should any further breakdowns occur, higher stages of load-shedding may be implemented at short notice.
