Eskom announced that stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 12pm until 10pm on Friday [July 10]. South Africa will be facing dreary weather and darkness.

“Due to the increase in generation unit breakdowns, Eskom regrets to inform the country that it will implement Stage 2 load shedding starting at 12:00,” writes Eskom in a statement. “This will continue until 22:00. This load shedding has been caused by an increase in plant breakdowns exceeding 3 000MW of capacity. Eskom is working hard to return as many of these generation units to service.”

The city announced that those that get their energy supplied by the City of Cape Town is be on Stage 1 load shedding.

Earlier on Friday [July 10] Eskom released an update saying they may be forced to implement load shedding by 4pm, and that it could go on into the weekend following severe strain that has been placed on the power system. Since then, the Matimba power station has broken down and resulted in the need for load shedding.

“The possibility that Eskom may be forced to implement load shedding has increased as the power system is severely constrained. Five generation units were taken off the grid, significantly raising the possible need for load shedding. We urge the public to continue reducing electricity usage to help us avoid load shedding,” they said in an earlier statement.

Five units at different power station around the country had to be removed from the grid, taking away 2600MW of capacity from the system. A delayed return of a unit at Duvha power station has also contributed towards the increased strain.

“Two units at the Arnot power station, as well as a unit each at Kendal, Tutuka and Majuba were taken off the grid. These removed more than 2 600MW of capacity from the system. The delayed return to service of a generation unit at the Duvha power station, has also added significant pressure to the generation system.”

“We request the public to reduce electricity usage between 16:00 and 22:00 in order to assist us in limiting the incidence of load shedding. Over the past two evenings the help of the public assisted us in avoiding the need for load shedding. With your help Eskom can again recover from this much quicker.”

Visit www.SavingElectricity.org.za for tips to save electricity and follow load-shedding developments on www.capetown.gov.za/loadshedding.

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