Eskom steps up maintenance work to stabilise grid ahead of winter
This has forced the implementation of stage three load shedding from this afternoon until Monday morning.
Picture: Xanderleigh Dookey-Makhaza/Eyewitness News.
JOHANNESBURG - With winter fast approaching, Eskom says it’s stepping up the pace of maintenance work to stabilise the grid and avoid severe power cuts in the colder months.
But breakdowns at Koeberg and Kusile power stations have dealt a major blow to the system.
This has forced the implementation of stage three loadshedding from this afternoon until Monday morning.
The power utility lost 2,700 megawatts in the last 14 hours following recent bad weather.
These challenges, coupled with an increased reliance on emergency reserves, have necessitated stage 3 load shedding over the weekend to replenish resources ahead of the business week.
Eskom says it’s deploying extra engineering teams to speed up repairs, with 6,200 megawatts expected to return to service by Monday evening.
Spokesperson Daphne Mokoena said: "Load shedding is a painful reminder of the past and situations such as this drive our resolve to double down and stay the course to end loadshedding."
Despite the setback, Eskom insists South Africa is not headed back to severe load shedding levels seen in 2023.