Eskom implements stage 2 rolling blackouts until Thursday

Stage 2 load-shedding will continue throughout this weekend right up until 5am on Thursday as power utility Eskom grapples with more breakdowns and depleted emergency power reserves.

Eskom said just after 6pm on Friday that it “regrets to inform the public that stage 2 load-shedding will be extended throughout the weekend” starting from 9pm [on Friday] evening until 5am on Thursday morning.

“This load-shedding is necessary to address other additional risks in the generation fleet.”

Total breakdowns amount to 14,760MW while planned maintenance is 5 ,77MW of capacity, Eskom said.

“While still recovering four units at Tutuka, which had experienced conveyor belt failures, the fleet suffered a cluster of boiler tube leaks within a short period of time.”

Emergency reserves have been further depleted due to breakdowns of a generating unit each at Kusile, Komati and Hendrina power stations. The return of a unit at Majuba provided some relief, however, this was insufficient to curb the extensive use of emergency reserves, the power utility said.

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