Two Eskom contracted security guards have been arrested for stealing cables. Photo: Eskom
Some progress: Eskom to end load shedding from Sunday night
Eskom says load shedding will end a bit earlier than expected! All blackouts will end on Sunday evening. How long until we see them again?
Two Eskom contracted security guards have been arrested for stealing cables. Photo: Eskom
Here is a tiny bit of good news to take you into the new week. Eskom says it is now able to end load shedding from 8PM on Sunday evening. The country has faced rolling blackouts for most of the last week. Over several points, the country was on Stage 4 load shedding with tens of thousands of megawatts off the grid.
Eskom says no more load shedding… for now
Eskom says generation capacity has significantly improved over the course of the weekend. Total breakdowns at power stations across the country are now down to 12 422 MW. Planned maintenance currently stands at 6 540 MW.
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Eskom says its mechanics and engineers have been hard at work since Friday evening.
“Since Friday, Eskom teams have returned four generation units to service. The emergency
Eskom statement
generation reserves have also sufficiently recovered. Eight other generating units are expected
to return to service by Wednesday evening.”
The soaring cost of diesel
The ailing power utility warns that while load shedding may be over for now, the next few days are likely to be very expensive. Despite prices of Diesel surging around the globe, Eskom will have to utilise plenty in the next 48 hours.
“The system will remain constrained on Monday and Tuesday and it is expected that extensive
use of emergency reserves will be required ahead of the units returning. Eskom, therefore,
requests the assistance of all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly.”
Over the last week, Eskom management admitted that they were doing everything in their power to avoid moving to Stage 6. On Monday, 7 different units at power stations tripped or had to be shut down. Despite this, Eskom insists that no sabotage is suspected.
By the end of Tuesday, another four units had also been taken off the grid.
Energy experts such as Chris Yelland have expressed their concerns over the future of diesel at Eskom. With fuel prices surging thanks to the war in Ukraine, it remains to be soon how much longer Eskom can afford to spend millions each day on diesel.
