Image via Adobe Stock
Eskom predicts that Friday 17 January 2020 and the upcoming weekend will be free of load shedding due to an improved system.
Image via Adobe Stock
Embattled power utility Eskom announced on Friday 17 December 2020 that there would be no load shedding for the day, as well as for the weekend thereafter, due to the rare occasion of meeting electricity demand.
“The risk of load shedding is low today as there is enough capacity to meet the forecasted demand,” said Eskom in a statement.
According to the state-owned enterprise, the power system is showing improvement with generation units performing better and the level of breakdowns slowly declining.
“Unplanned outages were at 11 374MW as of 06:00 this morning,” said the statement.
The current performance of the system has allowed Eskom to preserve its emergency resources.
“Our teams continue to work to reduce the incidents of breakdowns to below 9 500MW in order to increase available capacity and limit the risk of load shedding,” it added.
On Thursday 16 January, Eskom said its summer maintenance plan continued unabated, with two big units at Hendrina and Lethabo power stations going on scheduled maintenance.
Eskom says they are monitoring the system closely and will continue to provide periodic updates on the status of the power system as things may change at short notice.
“We ask customers to continue to use electricity wisely to assist us to avoid or limit the level of load shedding,” said the statement.
When at home, Eskom suggests you do the following to preserve electricity:
Eskom also added that cable theft is one of the main reasons for constant power outages and urged communities to report cable theft to Crime Line South Africa, the South African Police Service (SAPS) or Eskom directly on 086-003-7566, SMS 35328 or email customerservices@eskom.co.za.