WEDNESDAY, 22 November, comes bearing bad news for Mzansi.
Eskom has announced the implementation of stage 4 load shedding at 02.31 indefinitely due to insufficient emergency reserves and generation capacity.
According to the struggling power utility, this is as a result of four units not returning to service as planned.
Eskom said they would continue to monitor the system and communicate should any significant changes occur.
The news comes just days after Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced on Sunday, 19 November, that Eskom would be ramping up power cuts to replenish emergency reserves.
He said this was because Eskom lost a “cluster” of units from different power stations across the country, amounting to more than 2 700 megawatts (MW), shy of three stages of load shedding.
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“And if we had not experienced that, of course, you would not be seeing the kind of intensity of load shedding that we are experiencing,” the Minister explained.
Ramokgopa explained that the return of units 1 and 3 at the Kusile Power Station provided some relief by creating an additional buffer.
The minister said this kind of failure of generating units has resulted in the continued burning of diesel and open-cycle gas turbines (OGGT) running on stream.
He said the focus now is on building emergency reserves that have been depleted due to the recent strain on Eskom's generating units.
