Thursday, 19 August 2021: Eskom would like to appeal to the members of the public to reduce the usage of electricity as the power system is under severe pressure following the loss of four generating units since this morning. A unit each at the Tutuka, Medupi and Majuba power stations tripped, while a unit at Lethabo has been taken offline to repair a boiler tube leak.
While the system is currently performing relatively well, with no loadshedding being implemented, a further loss of generation capacity would force Eskom to implement loadshedding at short notice in order to protect the integrity of the system, particularly between 18:00 and 21:00 this evening.
Breakdowns currently total 13 557MW while planned maintenance is 4 074MW of capacity. Eskom is working to return as many of these units as possible, starting tonight.
Eskom has not implemented loadshedding since 22 July 2021 due to some improvement in the performance of the generation fleet. Eskom urges the people of South Africa to help reduce electricity usage in order to ease the pressure on the system.
Eskom will communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the performance of the system.
ENDS
