[ad_1]
By Staff Reporter 
13h ago
Cape Town – While Eskom announced Tuesday that it would be forced to resume its Stage 2 load unloading from noon to 10 p.m. due to breakdowns in its generating units, the City of Town said its consumers will only be in Stage 1.
“Eskom regrets to inform the public that due to a severely restricted generation system as a result of multiple unit failures, it has become necessary to implement stage 2 load shedding,” the state-owned company said, warning that this is likely to persist. during the rest of the week.
It said that ten generating units at seven power plants had suffered breakdowns in the past 48 hours.
The city assured consumers that it “will protect them from a load shedding stage for as long as possible.”
Eskom’s load shedding will be active from 12:00 to 22:00 today.
– Eskom customers and those abandoned by Eskom will be in Stage 2.
– City customers, abandoned by the city, will be in Stage 1, as we will protect them from a load loss stage for as long as possible. #CTNews pic.twitter.com/MOxins8PWT– Cape Town City (@CityofCT) September 1, 2020
Stage 2 load shedding involves suppressing 2,000 megawatts of electricity demand at any given time to avoid overwhelming and disconnecting the national grid.
Eskom said one generator had failed at the Arnot, Medupi, Lethabo and Matla power plants, while two units at the Majuba, Camden and Tutuka power plants failed.
This, together with the need to conserve emergency generation reserves, required continuous blackouts to protect the integrity of the system.
“Unplanned breakdowns amount to 11,665 MW of capacity, adding to the 4,558 MW currently under planned maintenance,” the company said. “Any further deterioration in generation performance may require escalation of load reduction on short notice.”
Loadshedding has been a reality in South Africa for over a decade due to breakdowns in Eskom’s infrastructure, in part due to years of inadequate maintenance. The company supplies about 95 percent of the country’s electricity, most of it coal-fired.
Eskom’s problems are compounded by financial constraints attributed in large part to years of mismanagement by top executives, many of whom left the company under a cloud of corruption allegations.
IOL and African News Agency / ANA
[ad_2]
