Power utility Eskom cannot say when its latest round of load shedding will end, says spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha.<\/p>\n
“The reality is we don\u2019t know which of the coal units are going to fail on any given day, that is true for both the old and the new units,” Mantshantsha said in an interview with Reuters<\/a> <\/strong>on Wednesday (15 July).<\/p>\n Mantshantsha said that Eskom has assembled a team led by one of its senior engineers to try to improve the performance of problem power stations.<\/p>\n He added that morning peak power demand on Wednesday was at its highest this year because of extreme cold weather, compounding the generation shortfall.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce this bout of load shedding is over, it would be naive to think we are done with load-shedding,\u201d Mantshantsha said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a single extra megawatt since we implemented stage 6 load-shedding during summer.”<\/p>\n The power utility said that it would move to stage 2 load shedding on Wednesday from 14:00 until 22:00, due to a shortage of capacity.<\/p>\n “Please note that the power system is severely constrained as demand is constantly increasing,\u201d it said in a statement on social media<\/p>\n “We are currently 2,000MW higher than yesterday. Please switch off electric heaters, geysers, pool pumps and other non-essential appliances.”<\/p>\n Loadshedding is a disruptive but necessary inconvenience. Following these handy tips will ensure that you are adequately prepared pic.twitter.com\/nGcGsJreJI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 14, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n