Eskom has warned that there is a high risk of load-shedding after six generation units broke down yesterday, putting a strain on the power system. The power utility issued the warning earlier last night and said loadshedding was imminent from 10 pm.

IMMINENT STAGE 2 LOADSHEDDING 

In a statement last night, spokesperson Daphney Mokoensa said six generation units were taken offline over twelve hours, placing severe strain on the power system and requiring emergency reserves. "If an additional 800MW is lost, Eskom will be compelled to implement stage 2 load shedding at short notice," Mokoena said in a statement, adding that efforts to return seven generation units to service between last night and today were underway. "Our teams are closely monitoring the situation, and further updates will be provided at 22:00 or earlier if necessary."

SYSTEM STABLE BUT REMAINS CONSTRAINED

A few hours later, Eskom issued another statement and said they managed to keep the system stable, but it remains constrained, and loadshedding may still be implemented at short notice if necessary. "Work continues to bring six generation units back online, with one unit already restored. Our teams are closely monitoring the situation, and we will provide further updates as needed,' she added.

On Sunday, the power utility announced that it had added 800mw of new capacity to the grid for the first time with the addition of Kusile Power Station's final unit to the national grid. Mokoena said the achievement marked a crucial step toward completing one of South Africa's largest infrastructure projects. "This is a key milestone in Eskom's strategic objective of adding 2,500 MW of new capacity to the grid by March 2025. Kusile Power Station will contribute a total of 4,800 MW to the national grid once all units are fully operational, making it South Africa's largest infrastructure project. She added that its sister project, Medupi, will see its Unit 4 return 800mw by the end of April from an extended outage following a generator stator failure and the completion of the project.