National power utility Eskom on Tuesday cautioned that load-shedding was possible on Tuesday and for the rest of this week if electricity was not used sparingly and efficiently.
This comes a day after Eskom warned that severe wet weather could cut power if it damaged electricity pylons and other critical electrical infrastructure.
Electricity supply was already expected to be “tight”, Eskom said in a statement.
“A temporary shortage of power on the national system due to unplanned [cuts] at a number of critical generating units, together with severe weather conditions, increases the possibility of load-shedding,” the power utility said.
It appealed to all consumers to use electricity sparingly in order to reduce the demand of electricity and to assist in minimising load-shedding.
“Eskom is doing everything to minimise the inconvenience to customers. To this end, emergency energy resources, which include the use of Eskom’s gas turbines and buying back power from large industrial customers, will be used,” it said, adding that its teams were working continuously to return the units that were on unplanned cuts back to service. — I-Net Bridge