Eskom on Tuesday issued a power alert requesting the public to reduce electricity usage as the grid is currently unstable. While no load shedding is scheduled as yet, it could be implemented “at short notice”.
The power utility said reducing the strain on the severely constrained grid – as a result of generating unit breakdowns at power stations across South Africa – could prevent load shedding.
The Eskom grid had been wobbling since well over the weekend when numerous breakdowns were reported across Gauteng. One such outage resulted in a total loss of power in Roodepoort on the West Rand.
Eskom explains: SInce the weekend, there have been numerous generating unit breakdowns at various power stations.
This has required Eskom to utilise significant amounts of emergency generation reserves, which under the current constrained system, is difficult to replenish”.
Eskom said some units have since returned to service, however, four failed units are still offline – one unit each at Hendrina and Matimba suffered a boiler tube leak.
In addition, one unit tripped at both Majuba and Kendal power stations. Eskom said the total breakdowns currently amount to 14,134 MW, while planned maintenance is 5,028MW of capacity.
“Delays in returning units at Kusile, Tutuka, Duvha and Grootvlei have also contributed to the supply constraints,” said Eskom.
Meanwhile, maintenance repairs are underway. The power utility warns: “Should there be any further loss of generation capacity, load shedding would be required to be implemented at short notice”.
Eskom will communicate any further significant changes to the power system across its official social media channels, including Twitter.