The power system is expected to be very tight over the evening peaks of the next few days, Eskom said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever the risk of load shedding for today and tomorrow is medium to low,\u201d the power utility said in its latest system status bulletin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is owing to steady progress made in building reserves over the weekend to limit the risk of load shedding this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
The risk would increase later in the week as water and diesel reserves declined.<\/p>\n
Mild and cloudy weather was forecast from Wednesday onwards which would increase electricity demand, putting pressure on the system and increasing the risk for load shedding.<\/p>\n
\u201cEskom calls on all South Africans to pull together over the next few months and use electricity sparingly by \u2018Living Lightly\u2019 this summer,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n
Homeowners and businesses could switch off geysers, pool pumps, and non-essential lights, and further, efficiently use air-conditioners by keeping room temperature at 23 degrees.<\/p>\n
The public could also respond to alerts on TV each evening.<\/p>\n
On Monday, available capacity for evening peak demand was 31,903 megawatts (MW), including open cycle gas turbines (OCGT).<\/p>\n
Demand was forecast at 31,491 MW. Current planned maintenance stood at 4091 MW, and unplanned outages were 7481 MW.<\/p>\n
Forecast available capacity, including OCGT, and peak demand for the rest of the week:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe demand in electricity tends to decrease from Friday, going into the weekend,\u201d Eskom said.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger said the electricity supply was expected to be constrained during the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no scheduled load shedding at this stage, but the second half of the week is expected to be very tight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Eskom\u2019s diesel generators were under pressure because of a lack of fuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiesel supplies are a concern due to volumes received not meeting our requirements. We are working with suppliers to unlock the constraints,\u201d said Etzinger.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Eskom declared a power emergency with large industrial customers. It also implemented rolling blackouts at the weekend.<\/p>\n
Eskom said the power system had experienced an increase in demand as a result of weather conditions and increased load losses as a result of multiple tripping of generating units at the Majuba and Matimba power stations.<\/p>\n
The power utility had lost a total of 1700MW of generating power, it said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Etzinger said the risk of blackouts on Monday and Tuesday was medium to low.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is owing to steady progress made in building reserves to limit the risk of load shedding next week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n