Friday, 12 March 2021: Regrettably, the implementation of Stage 2 loadshedding will be extended to 23:00 on Sunday as the generation capacity is severely constrained. Over the past 24 hours further breakdowns occurred at three power stations, putting further strain on the generation capacity.
Breakdowns at the Kriel, Medupi and Kendal power stations resulted in generation units being taken offline for various faults. Emerging risks at various other power stations have also contributed to the constraints.
While Eskom used the loadshedding of the past two days to replenish the emergency generation reserves, we have had to utilise the emergency reserves to supplement supply. This period of loadshedding will be used to replenish the emergency generation reserves.
We currently have 7 071MW on planned maintenance, while another 11 780MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and delays. This has led to our inability to supply the increasing demand.
Eskom is working hard to return the units back to service, and should the previously stated risks materialise and units not return as expected, there is a high probability that loadshedding may continue into the coming week.
Eskom will continue to assess and communicate promptly as the situation changes.
As previously communicated, Eskom continues to implement reliability maintenance during this period, and as such the system will continue to be constrained, with the possibility of loadshedding remaining elevated.
Eskom requests the public to continue using electricity sparingly as the system remains vulnerable and unpredictable, and we will communicate timeously should there be any significant changes to the power system.
ENDS
