Eskom, South Africa's power utility, has warned of a high risk of load shedding this weekend, despite 10 months of uninterrupted power supply. The company attributes the potential for power cuts to recent breakdowns requiring extended repair times. While acknowledging the situation as a temporary setback, Eskom assures the public that it is closely monitoring its emergency reserves and will provide further updates.
In a statement on Friday, Eskom , South Africa 's power utility, announced a high risk of load shedding at short notice this weekend. After more than 10 months of uninterrupted electricity supply, attributed to the success of the Generation Recovery Plan, the company warned of the potential for power cuts . Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, acknowledged this as a potentially temporary setback.
He stated, 'Load shedding is largely behind us due to the structural improvements in our generation fleet.' However, he explained that the company has faced several breakdowns in the past week that require extended repair times. Marokane emphasized that Eskom is closely monitoring the status of its emergency reserves. The company pledged to provide further updates on the situation. Matthew Cruise, an energy expert at Forest Energy Solutions, supports Eskom's claim of avoiding significant power cuts in January. He attributes this success to the extensive use of diesel reserves. Cruise spoke to Cape Talk, stating that while Eskom has avoided load shedding for 300 days, the utility's stability is not as robust as it might appear. He revealed that there were instances in January where Eskom came close to implementing Stage 3 load shedding. Cruise elaborated, 'We’ve been 300 days without load shedding. Yes, that is the case, but they’ve been doing everything in their power and spending as much diesel as they can to keep that narrative alive.' This suggests that Eskom's reliance on diesel to maintain the current power supply situation might be a temporary solution, and the company continues to face challenges in ensuring long-term grid stability
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