According to Eskom the system remains severely constrained and unpredictable.
Eskom lost additional generation capacity overnight with breakdowns of over 14,000MW. Emergency reserves are also insufficient to meet the demand for electricity during the day.
Anything above 9 500MW means that Eskom has to resort to emergency power generation: open cycle gas turbines and pumped storage hydro electrical plants. These are very expensive ways of generating power, particularly gas turbines as they require large quantities of diesel. They can only be used for short periods before diesel and water reserves run out.
“As a result we have to loadshed throughout the day until tomorrow. We will give South Africans regular updates about our prognosis for tomorrow and our recovery efforts for the rest of the week leading into the weekend,” Eskom said in a statement.
