Joburg delivers on promises to keep lights on in load-shedding

JOHANNESBURG power utility City Power managed to keep the lights on during Tuesday’s planned Eskom load-shedding.

Tuesday evening was the first real demonstration of grand promises Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau has made to keep electricity on even during periods of load-shedding.

Eskom on Tuesday afternoon declared stage 1 load-shedding from 5pm until 10pm, citing a vulnerable supply system.

“Maintenance is carried out to guarantee that our supply of electricity can be maintained in the long term,” the power utility said on Tuesday.

However, the city attributed additional power during the load-shedding to capacity from its Kelvin power station and its new load-limiting mechanism.

“Load-limiting allows City Power to remotely monitor household energy usage and curb excessive consumption using smart meters, while ripple control allows the utility to switch off energy-intensive geysers when the grid is under pressure,” City Power said.

City Power said it would be getting excess capacity from the Kelvin power station and from the activation of load-limiting in certain areas. – BDlive