Eskom says ‘no load shedding’

THE ENERGY grid remains under pressure, but Eskom said there was no immediate threat of load shedding this week.

Spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said power would be constrained “but we’re not anticipating load shedding”.

“If we do, however, see a number of our generators fail, the scenario will change and we will come back to the public if we do see a change to the outlook”.

Last week, the power utility was under enormous strain with load shedding gripping most parts of the country for six days. It also emerged in Parliament that Eskom was technically insolvent and at its current trajectory would not survive past April.

Eskom said the emergency reserves of diesel and water remained very low.

The utility said it had lost six additional generating units, which had placed additional strain on the system.

Meanwhile, the City urged residents to reduce the risk of nuisance tripping.

“This is when the power is restored to an area and fails to come back on in some parts. Residents are encouraged to switch off appliances, including geysers, air conditioners and pool pumps prior to load shedding and leaving one light on to indicate the return of the supply,” said Phindile Maxiti, mayco member for energy and climate change. “We are also continuing our endeavours to become less reliant on Eskom for electricity.”

He said that due to spare generation capacity from the Steenbras Hydro-electric Power Scheme, the City could keep its customers on a lower stage of load shedding.

But the Steenbras scheme is undergoing maintenance until April.