Eskom has issued a warning of load shedding at short notice after five generator units broke down causing the loss of 16 000MW of power.
Eskom is urging residents to reduce their electricity consumption to prevent load shedding.
“Eskom requests the public to reduce the usage of electricity as the power system is severely constrained following the failure of five generating units,” it said.
While no load shedding is currently being implemented, Eskom requires the assistance of the public to use less electricity where possible.
It said five generation units at various power stations had failed throughout the day – three in just two hours.
“Should there be any further loss of generation capacity, load shedding would be required to be implemented at very short notice. A generating unit each at Kusile and Majuba power stations were taken offline to repair boiler tube leaks, while a generating unit each at Kriel, Majuba and Matimba power stations tripped. The return to service of a generating unit each at Kendal and Tutuka were delayed,” Eskom said.
The power utility stated that it would communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power system.
A unit at Kusile and a unit at Majuba were taken offline to repair boiler tube leaks. Elsewhere, units at Kriel, Matimba, and Majuba – again – simply tripped. There’s additional pressure on the grid too, as units at Kenda and Tutuka failed to come back online as scheduled.
Nearly 22 000 MW of power is offline in South Africa right now, due to these various issues.
Sources: IOL, MSN
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