Get Out Your Candles, Eskom Announces Stage 2 Load Shedding From 9Pm Tonight

Eskom has confirmed that it will implement Stage 2 load shedding from 9pm tonight until 5am tomorrow morning.

In a statement this afternoon, Eskom said this was due to a shortage of generation capacity.

“The return to service of three generation units has been delayed, while another three generation units tripped during the day, reducing available generation capacity. This load shedding is necessary in order to manage and preserve the emergency generation reserves,” Eskom said.

It added that a generation unit at the Tutuka and Kendal power stations tripped while a single Komanti unit was forced down.

Eskom said the return to service of generation units at the Kriel, Medupi and Duhva power stations had been delayed.

“We are working hard to return these units to service as soon as possible. We will keep the public informed as soon as there is a significant change in the power system status. We currently have 4 775MW on planned maintenance, while another 12 699MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and delays,” Eskom said.

It added it would continue to implement reliability maintenance during this period and as such the system will continue to be constrained with the possibility of load shedding remaining elevated.

Meanwhile, City of Cape Town customers who thought they would be spared from one stage will also be on Stage 2.

The City posted on social media that, “City customers will be on Stage 2 load-shedding from 10pm (not 9pm) tonight until 5am, tomorrow 14 April 2021.

“This after Eskom has announced it will implement Stage 2 load-shedding. Further updates will be provided as soon as possible.”

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