Eskom ‘vulnerable’ with breakdowns over 13,000MW – but no load shedding planned
Eskom says there is no load shedding planned for Friday, despite the national grid being constrained and vulnerable, with breakdowns exceeding 13,000MW.
“Breakdowns are at 13,154MW this morning. Our technical teams will continue to work over the holiday period to monitor the situation,” it said.
The group said it will continue working to bring down the level of breakages to under 9,500MW, which is the level Eskom determines as the ‘safe’ zone to ensure load shedding does not hit.
The most recent round of load shedding occurred due to breakdowns going past 12,500MW, meaning the power situation has not improved.
The country’s saving grace right now is the shutdown of major industries for the holiday period, which has significantly reduced demand.
On Thursday, Eskom also experienced a fire at its second biggest power station, which contributes 4,000MW of power to the grid. The fire did have an impact on operations at the plant, but contingency measures were put in place to ensure power supply was maintained.
The damage done could take up to two months to repair, but Eskom said that the plant was well-stocked, with 50 days’ worth of coal reserves.
“We will continue to use emergency reserves to supplement capacity if necessary over this period,” Eskom said.
‘We remind customers that as the system continues to be vulnerable and unpredictable, the possibility of load shedding remains.”
Read: High risk of load shedding for the next 18 months: analyst
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