Load-shedding returns until Sunday: Eskom cites impact of heavy rains

Eskom has announced that stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from 12pm on Friday until 11pm on Sunday.

“The load-shedding has been exacerbated by the forced shutdown of five generating units at the Medupi power station as a result of the inability to get coal into the units due to the heavy rain in the Lephalale area last night,” said the energy utility.

The area experienced 65mm of rain, which added to the constraints caused by the heavy rains due to cyclone storm Eloise over the past two weeks, it added.

Eskom said it has implemented contingency plans and deployed additional resources to deal with the impact of heavy rainfalls in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, “and the teams are working hard to return as many of these units to service as soon as possible”.

Eskom now has 4,114MW on planned maintenance, while another 15,739MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned maintenance.

“Eskom would like to urge the public to reduce electricity usage to help us minimise load-shedding. The system remains vulnerable and unpredictable.” 

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