Eskom said early Saturday morning they would increase the stage of load shedding “due to further breakdowns of generating units”.
The power utility previously communicated that stage four load shedding would reduce load shedding to stage 3 over the weekend.
Load shedding update
of Friday, breakdowns were at 17 245 MW of generating capacity while 4 468 MW was out of service for planned maintenance.
At the time, three units were returned to service at Hendrina, Lethabo and Tutuka power stations.
However, Eskom warned said a generating unit had to be taken offline at Camden, Kendal, and Majuba each, while Duvha power station lost two units.
An additional delay in service of units at Arnot and Matla only added to the capacity constraints.
‘Continuous efforts’
Also on Friday, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the next 150 days will be “very difficult” for South Africans.
Eskom expects an increase of up to 3 700MW during the winter season.
During the Energy Action Plan briefing on Friday, Ramokgopa said “the work on improving the energy availability factor is continuous”.
