Power system ‘severely constrained’ but no load-shedding expected on Saturday: Eskom

Despite the electricity system being “severely constrained and vulnerable” due to the loss of some generation units overnight, no load-shedding is expected on Saturday, Eskom said.

“The electricity system is severely constrained today with unplanned breakdowns at 14,294MW as at 6.30am this morning. While a number of units have returned to service, Eskom unexpectedly lost some generation units last night but load-shedding is not expected,” the state-owned power utility said.

It said it would continue to use emergency reserves to supplement capacity if necessary over this period.

“We however remind customers that as the system continues to be vulnerable and unpredictable, the possibility of load-shedding remains.

“Our technical teams will continue to work over the holiday period to monitor the situation, carry out planned maintenance and to work at reducing unplanned breakdowns to below 9,500MW to enable us to minimise the possibility of load-shedding,” the parastatal added.