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Friday brings more load-shedding

Picture Credit: www.lightingrevolution.co.za
Picture Credit: www.lightingrevolution.co.za

Eskom will implement stage 1 load-shedding and load curtailment from 6am which is likely to continue until 10pm‚ the power utility said in a statement on Friday.

Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson on Thursday announced a raft of new plans for the acceleration of electricity generation by private-sector power producers‚ including the expansion of renewable energy programmes and progress on gas‚ coal and co-generation initiatives.

The announcement‚ coming near the end of a difficult week for Eskom‚ which was forced to resort to stage 3 load shedding due to unplanned outages and depleted diesel stocks‚ was met with an enthusiastic response by the business community‚ analysts and energy investors.

Stage 3 load shedding allows for 4‚000MW — or about 13% of total capacity of 30‚000MW — to be dropped from the grid.

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown apologised on Wednesday for continuing load-shedding. She said despite the onset of winter‚ Eskom’s maintenance would continue.

Eskom’s generating capacity plummeted to record lows this week with close to 50% of plants out of service‚ a result of breakages and depleted diesel levels‚ sources within Eskom said.

However‚ Ms Brown‚ Eskom insiders and business lobby leaders all provided assurances that the risk of total failure of the grid remained low due to Eskom’s load-shedding initiatives.

“The electricity supply system remains very vulnerable due to a shortage of generation capacity as several units are currently out of service due to planned and unplanned outages‚” Eskom said in a statement.

The power utility asked all customers to use electricity sparingly and to urgently switch off geysers‚ air conditioners‚ pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day.

“Commercial customers can also make a big difference by switching off non-essential lights and not leaving office equipment such as photocopiers and computers in standby mode after hours‚” the power utility said.

Eskom said they would like to assure customers that load-shedding is implemented as a necessary measure to protect the power system.

Click here for Eskom’s load-shedding schedules. Municipal customers should contact their municipalities for information.

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