Eskom’s massive maintenance this weekend is an attempt to improve the performance and reliability of its generating units ahead of the expected peak winter demand. But‚ this combined “with cold weather and scattered showers forecast over the weekend” and “any additional changes on the already vulnerable and constrained power system could lead to load-shedding”‚ the power utility said in its latest bi-weekly “System Status Update”.The maintenance is needed as “about 64% of Eskom’s current installed base load power stations are past their midlife‚ requiring longer outages and extended restoration time than planned”.Trends in the supply and demand of power in South Africa are as follows (current planned maintenance stands at 5 885MW; unplanned outages are 5 285MW):- Friday‚ April24: The capacity available to meet the evening peak demand is 31 032MW‚ while demand is forecast at 30 638MW.- Saturday‚ April 25: The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 30 274MW‚ while demand is forecast at 29 302MW.- Sunday April 26: The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 28 582MW‚ while demand is forecast at 29 169MW.- Monday‚ April 27: The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 28 426MW‚ while demand is forecast at 30 564MW. -Tuesday‚ April 28: The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 27 988MW‚ while demand is forecast at 32 010MW.- Wednesday‚ April 29: The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 28 010MW‚ while demand is forecast at 31 988MW...