Eskom warns of possible load shedding on Thursday evening

This comes after the power utility lost four generating units earlier in the day. 

The units at 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 load shedding being implemented, a further loss of generation capacity would force Eskom to implement load shedding at short notice in order to protect the integrity of the system, particularly between 18:00 and 21:00 this evening,” says Eskom spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

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“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,” he adds.

The power utility hasn’t implemented load shedding since July owing to some improvement in the performance of the generation fleet.