Brace yourselves: Eskom has announced it will be implementing Stage 2 of load shedding from 11:00 on Wednesday, 2 February until 05:00 on Monday, 7 February 2022.
“Eskom regrets to inform the public that Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 11:00 this morning until 05:00 on Monday. This load shedding is necessary due to a shortage of generation capacity following breakdowns of two more generating units during the night,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.
ESKOM: STAGE 2 LOAD SHEDDING ‘NECESSARY’
Since this past weekend, Mantshantsha says the utility has had no choice but to make use of a significant amount of emergency generating reserves, which have now been depleted and need to be replenished. Mantshantsha says Eskom will use this period of load shedding to replenish the emergency generation reserves.
The announcement comes hours after Eskom had urged customers to use electricity sparingly.
“While some of these units have since returned to service, four other generating units that failed are still offline. A unit each at Matimba and Hendrina suffered a boiler tube leak, while a unit each at Majuba and Kendal tripped,” Mantshantsha says.
He adds that they’ll communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power system.
“Total breakdowns amount to 14 994MW while planned maintenance is 4 435MW of capacity as we continue with the reliability maintenance. Three generating units are expected to return to service by this afternoon. Eskom appeals to all South Africans to help limit the impact of loadshedding by reducing the usage of electricity and to switch off non-essential item”
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha