Hours after Eskom announced phase 4 load shedding, it was forced to step up to phase 5.
Eskom announced earlier this afternoon (Friday) that phase 5 will be implemented from 16:00 until midnight due to a higher than expected demand for electricity.
Phase 4 then applies until Sunday at 05:00 followed by phase 2 until Sunday at 16:00.
Eskom says the delay in the repair of a generating unit at the Kendal power station and two generating units at the Tutuka power station is currently contributing to the shortage of generating capacity.
However, one generating unit each at the Arnot and Duvha power stations as well as two generating units at the Matla power station were put back into service in the last 24 hours.
However, one generating unit each at Grootvlei, Kendal and two generating units at the Camden power station must be repaired in the meantime.
Eskom says unplanned breakdowns have taken 16,302 MW of capacity out of the network, while 3,616 MW is currently unavailable due to planned maintenance work.
Due to higher than anticipated demand, Stage 5 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00
today until midnight. After that, Stage 4 load shedding will be implemented until 05:00 on
Sunday pic.twitter.com/TqudIA1mFa— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 21, 2023
