In a statement, Eskom warned that further breakdowns and increased electricity usage could necessitate the return of loadshedding.
Loadshedding on the cards this week
The national power supplier sent a wave of irritation across the country when it revealed that the power grid was, on Tuesday, severely strained and while no loadshedding had been implemented by noon, this last resort may be turned to at short notice “should any further generation breakdowns occur.”
Moreover, the power utility revealed that the failure of a number of generation units at affected power plants to return to service may result in the urgent implementation of rotational power cuts.
“Over the past 24 hours, Eskom teams returned a generation unit each at Camden, Kendal and Medupi power stations. Over the same period, two generation units; one at Arnot and another at Hendrina tripped while a unit each at Arnot and Lethabo were forced to shut down,” the state-owned entity revealed.
IEC in talks with Eskom to limit damage to elections
By the looks of it, loadshedding could be implemented this week and while this will surely hurt businesses, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (iEC), which is in the process of vetting and counting votes for the 2021 local government elections, finds itself in a precarious situation.
At the last media briefing, the commission confirmed that measures have been taken to ensure that power supply is not disrupted in the event of loadshedding.
IEC vice-chair Janet Love informed reporters that talks are ongoing with Eskom to limit the damage as much as possible when power cuts return.
“Total breakdowns currently amount to 15 852MW while planned maintenance is 4 036MW of capacity,” Eskom revealed.
The utility urged South Africans to use electricity sparingly and to be on the lookout for any further announcements “should there be any significant changes to the power system.”