Eskom has issued a warning South Africans are all too familiar with: reduce your power consumption or face rotational load shedding.
You’ve been warned, Eskom says
This, though, comes as no surprise since power cuts have been part of the country’s daily life for the better part of 12 years.
It is often when the power grid is faced with immense pressure from electricity consumption, with very little effort made by our frail generation system, that Eskom whips out this threat.
“While no load shedding is anticipated, Eskom would like to warn the public there is a high probability of load shedding should we lose any further capacity. In order to get through the evening peak, we urge the public to reduce usage of electricity as the power system is severely constrained,” the power utility noted in a statement.
What caused the threat of load shedding?
Eskom further explained that they are limited in the amount of electricity the utility is able to generate. This, for the most part, is caused by “the loss of multiple generation units and high load losses.”
This is in addition to a number of generation units that have been downed for planned maintenance.
“We currently have 7 532MW on planned maintenance, while another 10 853MW of capacity is out on unplanned maintenance. Eskom teams are working around the clock to return as many of these units to service as soon as possible,” the statement continued.
The best way to prepare for the worst — i.e. Eskom publishing a load shedding notice when millions of us are asleep in the wee hours of the morning — is to ensure all essential electronic devices are charged and that high voltage household items are unplugged.
More updates will be provided once Eskom publishes more information on its fight to prevent rolling blackouts this festive season.
