Some of the utensils used during load sheeding. Load shedding strikes Johannesburg, electricity uses are assured that the country's energy challenges are receiving priority at the highest level to resolve the situation. Picture: Itumeleng English
Johannesburg - Despite so far failing to follow through on threats of load shedding at short notice, Eskom on Tuesday cut the lights in six provinces by implementing load reduction from 5pm.
Eskom warned of Stage 2 load shedding between 5pm and midnight for the next three days.
But Eskom opted to implement load reduction in six provinces between 5pm and10pm on Tuesday evening.
The load reduction, Eskom said, would be implemented due to a shortage of generation capacity.
It will affect parts of Limpopo, Gauteng, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, the North West and the Eastern Cape provinces.
Eskom spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha said should some generating units which are offline not return to service, load shedding would be implemented.
“However, should there be any further loss of generation capacity over the next three days, or should some units fail to return to service as anticipated, load shedding may be required to be implemented at short notice,” he said earlier.
AFFECTED AREAS
The parts of Limpopo that will be affected include the Sekhukhune, Vhembe, and Waterberg districts.
In Gauteng, only the Tshwane district would be affected by load reduction.
In the Eastern Cape, the Mnquma local municipality and Butterworth areas would be affected by load reduction.
In the Free State, areas that will be affected are Thulamtwana in Lejwelaputswa and Leratswane Section in Thabo Mufutswanya.
In the North West, areas including Rustenburg, Klerksdorp, Mmabatho and Vryburg would be hit with load reduction.
In KZN, areas affected include the Hibiscus Coast, Umzumbe, Msunduzi, Ladysmith, Mkhambathini, Ethekwini, Indaka, Maphumulo, Jozini, Ndwedwe, Mfolozi, uMshwathi, uMhlanthuze, uMfolozi, Mtubatuba, Nongoma, Msinga and Impendle.
Eskom has revealed it currently only has 2 986MW on planned maintenance and another 15 513MW of capacity is currently unavailable due to breakdowns.
Mantshantsha said: “The delay in returning a generation unit to service each at Arnot, Kusile and the Koeberg power stations, as well as the failure of a generation unit each at Medupi, Hendrina, Camden and two units at Majuba Power Station, have exacerbated the capacity constraints.
Eskom has said that it will promptly communicate any further changes regarding its generation capacity.
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