Stage 2 load-shedding may be imposed at short notice: Eskom

After two nights free of load-shedding, Eskom has warned the country there is a heightened risk of power cuts on Thursday.

“Last night, a conveyor belt feeding coal into the Medupi generation units failed ...

“This means the four generation units in service are not able to take in the requisite amount of coal to generate electricity.

“This puts further strain on Eskom’s ability to fully supply electricity over the next 24 hours.”

Eskom said repairing the conveyor belt is expected to take the better part of the day.

“Any further breakdown elsewhere in the generation fleet would necessitate the implementation of stage 2 load-shedding at short notice,” the utility warned.

On Wednesday night, Eskom was able to suspend load-shedding for a second night in a row after its technicians had returned some generation units to the grid. Enforced power cuts had, however, been in effect during most of Tuesday's work hours. The latest round of load-shedding began last week.

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