Eskom has reduced peak period load-shedding to Stage 1 and announced it was “unlikely” to implement power cuts at the weekend.
On Friday, Eskom said, “due to some recovery in the generation capacity this afternoon, Stage 1 load-shedding will be implemented from 17:00 until 22:00 tonight”.
The power utility added: “This afternoon, Eskom teams have returned a generating unit to service at Kusile and Majuba power stations.”
Owing to inadequate generating capacity, from Monday to Thursday this week Eskom implemented Stage 2 load-shedding between 17:00 and 22:00.
However, on Friday the power utility said: “Barring any significant breakdowns, there is a low probability of load-shedding being implemented during the weekend”.
In a statement, the power utility said: “While we expect more generating units to return to service over the weekend, Eskom appeals to all South Africans to help us limit the impact of load-shedding by reducing the usage of electricity and to switch off all non-essential items.”
Meanwhile, Eskom said a unit each at Camden and Kriel power stations were taken offline for repairs.
“We currently have 2 094MW on planned maintenance, while another 15 997MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns,” said the statement.
“We therefore urge all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly, especially between 05:00 to 09:00 in the mornings and 16:00 to 22:00 in the evenings.”
Eskom reiterated that load-shedding was implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid.