Eskom warned on Thursday that it might be forced to resume load shedding as its electricity grid was under renewed pressure.
Eskom has struggled to meet demand for electricity in Africa’s biggest economy, resulting in power failures which forced key mines to halt production for five days in January. The firm has cut supplies to mines to about 90% to 95% of what they would normally require.
Earlier this month Eskom suspended a nationwide load-shedding programme introduced at the start of the year, citing increased electricity savings from municipalities.
Eskom had asked households and businesses to cut demand by 10% to avoid rolling blackouts, known as ”load shedding”.
But on Thursday the company said demand pressure was on the rise again.
”During the course of this day we could be in trouble and there may be a possibility of load shedding,” Eskom official Andrew Etzinger said on local radio.
Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said the company’s low-reserve margin meant that demand and supply for electricity remained tightly matched and ”for as long as the demand and supply is tightly matched, load-shedding remains a possibility.
”That general position applied yesterday, it applies today, it will apply tomorrow. Today [Thursday] the morning peak period was a lot tighter [but] we were able to go through the morning peak, tight as it was, without any interruption,” said Zulu.
”We expect that the evening peak will be equally tight, and it is for this reason that we are saying this is one of those days where South Africans have to be particularly conscious of how they use electricity.”
Eskom has a total net generating capacity of 37 761MW from 11 operating coal-fired power stations, and a further 2 300 potentially available from two mothballed plants being recommissioned. – Reuters 2008