Eskom has managed to avoid load shedding over the weekend and no load shedding is expected on Monday, the state-owned power utility said.
“The power system is showing some improvement as our teams continue to work hard to bring generation units that have tripped or are on maintenance back on line to feed the much-needed power into the grid,” Eskom said in a statement on Sunday evening.
“At this stage we are encouraged by the system stability, but request our customers to continue using electricity sparingly in order to help us manage the demand. This is particularly important as we get into a new week where demand is going to increase as industry and schools reopen.”
The additional capacity brought on line from the return of generation units, as well as lower demand over the weekend had allowed Eskom to replenish emergency reserves – water for the pumped storage schemes and diesel for the open cycle gas turbine generators.
“We therefore foresee a low probability of load shedding for Monday and Tuesday, but we will keep South Africa informed about the status of the power systems. We continue to ask customers to reduce demand, as a concerted collective effort can help to avoid or reduce the level of load shedding,” Eskom said.
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