×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

Eskom to stagger ‘outages without resorting to load-shedding’ this weekend

Eskom said load-shedding should not be needed this weekend.

According to the bi-weekly System Status Bulletin‚ released on Thursday‚ the power utility “will once again embark on a massive plant maintenance drive this long-weekend in an effort to improve the performance and reliability”.

On Friday night‚ more than 2000MW will be taken offline during the off-peak period‚ and several units that are currently offline are expected back on-stream from Saturday.

“The aim is to stagger the planned outages without resorting to load-shedding‚” the statement read.

“Eskom will use its emergency reserves‚ namely the open-cycle gas turbines and the pumped storage schemes to augment capacity while the maintenance drive is underway.”

Eskom has predicted these power supply and demand differentials:

- Friday‚ May 1: The capacity available to meet evening peak demand is 31 464MW‚ while demand is forecast at 28 719 MW.

Saturday‚ May 2: The capacity available to meet evening peak demand is 31 235MW‚ while demand is forecast at 28 854 MW.

Sunday‚ May 3: The capacity available to meet evening peak demand is 30 700MW‚ while demand is forecast at 29 964 MW.

Monday‚ May 4: The capacity available to meet evening peak demand is 31 233MW‚ while demand is forecast at 32 118 MW.

Tuesday‚ May 5: The capacity available to meet evening peak demand is 32 742MW‚ while demand is forecast at 32 345 MW.