Eskom implemented stage two rolling power cuts on Tuesday to help bolster power supply for the rest of the week, acting CEO Dan Marokane said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe moved to stage two in order to manage our reserves at our pumped storage schemes and gas turbines so that we can better manage the rest of the week,\u201d Marokane said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Eskom began with stage one rotational power cuts on Tuesday morning, but later escalated to stage two. This would continue until 10pm.<\/p>\n
Stage one allows for up to 1000MW of the national load to be cut, stage two for up to 2000MW, and stage three for up to 4000MW.<\/p>\n
Eskom said the intensified power cuts were necessary because of a shortage of generation capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt our pumped storage schemes (which use water to generate electricity), the dam levels are low because we were not able to pump the water back to full capacity over the weekend,\u201d it said on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
This was because Eskom had to use its pumped storage schemes over the weekend to meet demand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrdinarily, the weekends are used to pump our dam levels to maximum capacity in preparation for the forecasted increased demand in electricity during the week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger warned there was a good chance of power cuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grid is exceptionally tight. There is a medium to high chance of load shedding today [Tuesday] if we do see further technical challenges developing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after 9am the power utility tweeted: \u201cEskom will implement load shedding stage one from 10.30am today. It is likely to continue until 10pm. We will give updates throughout the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Etzinger said 25 percent of Eskom\u2019s generator capacity was out because of technical problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t go to stage three unless it is absolutely necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
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