While Eskom says it is still on track to suspend load-shedding at 5am on Friday, it has warned of the possibility of load-shedding next week.

The power utility said the power system remains fragile.

“And while that holds, Eskom will continue with the current instance of load-shedding as previously communicated, which will be suspended at 5am on Friday,” it said.

Eskom said the planned suspension of load-shedding is due, in part, to the lower demand expected over the weekend.

“However, there remains a possibility that load-shedding will need to be implemented during next week as the demand returns.

“Over the past 24 hours, a unit each at the Kusile and Kendal power stations tripped. The Kusile unit has returned to service this morning, together with one of the previously delayed Camden power station units,” it said.

The power utility said it will undertake opportunity maintenance during the low demand weekend to address some risks on running units.

“During the weekend Eskom will release some water into the river system from the Ingula pumped storage scheme to relieve the capacity constraints that have been created by the heavy rains. This will be done in a responsible manner in collaboration with the authorities. We now have 6,042MW on planned maintenance, while another 14,471MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns,” it said.

Eskom says any further deterioration in generation capacity may require further load-shedding.

“We, therefore, request the public to continue using electricity sparingly, particularly over the long weekend to assist to replenish the emergency generation reserves in anticipation of the coming week. Eskom would like to apologise for the implementation of load-shedding and reiterate that load-shedding is implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid. We will communicate should there be any significant changes to the supply situation.”

TimesLIVE