Eskom Group CEO Andre de Ruyter confirmed, at Friday’s media briefing on the state of the power system, there is a very low probability of loadshedding next week.
Eskom confirms no loadshedding next week: Here’s why
The head of the national power supplier indicated that after more than a week of generation unit breakdowns and unplanned outages, things are starting to look positive.
De Ruyter revealed that many of the serviced power units were expected to return to service in the days to come, putting an end to speculation of loadshedding this weekend.
Moreover, despite a handful of units at risk of tripping, with more than 900MW on the brink of falling off the grid, power station managers are positive that there will be no rotational power outages between now and the end of next week.
“At this point in time, the prognosis is good. We have a number of units that are coming back as planned. I attended our system meeting this morning at 05:00 and I can give the assurance that our power station managers are working very hard with their teams in order to bring back those megawatts that are on outage.
“Of course, some challenges do remain… So, the outlook for next week, at this point in time is quite positive,” he said.
De Ruyter on saving electricity: ‘Every kilowatt counts’
The Eskom CEO was, however, cautious about neglecting the power utility’s sustained infrastructure issues and admitted that while, in the interim, the power grid is stable, the threat of rolling blackouts still exists.
“These are complex units. They are very large units, difficult to operate, and we have spoken a lot about various constraints we have, in terms of procurement, and so forth, but we will take great steps to ensure that we can relieve that,” he said.
De Ruyter encouraged South Africans to continue with their efforts in saving electricity, as every kilowatt counts.
