The increase in electricity demand must be reduced, Eskom said on Thursday. “We have only so much generating capacity; therefore the only solution is to reduce the demand,” it said in a statement.
The national electricity provider said the system demand, which is growing daily due to the cold weather, puts “tremendous” pressure on the already tight electricity supply.
“One of the main contributions to keeping the national electricity system stable consists of the whole nation collectively using electricity much more sparingly, specifically during peak periods,” said Eskom’s chief executive, Jacob Maroga.
Eskom said it has implemented a programme of advising electricity consumers how to use electricity efficiently.
“Unfortunately, should the high consumption of electricity — particularly during the peak periods — continue to increase, the possibility of load shedding will inevitably also increase,” it said.
Beeld reported on Thursday that rolling power failures affected parts of Gauteng and Mpumalanga on Wednesday evening. Suburbs in Johannesburg were affected, as well as Bela-Bela, Komatipoort, Tembisa, Kempton Park and Germiston.
Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said the rolling power failures were necessary because the power grid was showing signs of instability due to problems on a power feeding line to Maputo.
Since Tuesday, a number of demand records have been broken, including the morning peak, evening peak, maximum night, and daily energy usage.
Zulu told Beeld that Eskom will have a total power-generating capacity of 38Â 368 megawatts by June 1. It expects a maximum demand of 36Â 306 megawatts this winter.
“This means we can handle it when there is a problem with one or two power stations, but if there is a simultaneous problem at several stations, we’ll have to start rolling power failures,” he said.