Load-shedding a 'last resort', says Eskom as power generation improves

Eskom said on Monday that any load-shedding over the next six months to a year would only be as a "last resort".

In a statement, the power utility crowed about not having implemented rotational power cuts - better known as load-shedding - for 36 consecutive days.

Chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer said in the statement, however, that there was a risk of power cuts as winter approached.

"As we continue to perform essential plant maintenance, while carefully balancing the country's energy requirements with the available capacity, the risk that we might implement load-shedding over the next six to 12 months remains. However, this will only be done as a last resort," he said.

He said that maintenance had been carried out over the Easter weekend - and as a result, power generation was now "in a more favourable position".

On top of this, the power utility said, it had recovered 900MW from one of the two Cahora Bassa power lines, which were damaged during Cyclone Idai.