Eskom told the Mail & Guardian it had only received a R9 billion World Bank loan to decommission its coal-fired Komati power station. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Eskom said on Monday it had been forced to activate rotational electricity blackouts for the first time in nearly a month, because of a tripped unit at its Medupi power station.
“Unit 5 of Medupi Power Station has just tripped, taking some 700MW (megawatts) [of] capacity with [it]. Regretfully, stage 2 load-shedding has been implemented immediately,” the state-owned utility said, undertaking to issue a full statement later.
Stage two load-shedding entails taking up to 2 000MW of demand off the national grid, to avoid overwhelming it.
Earlier on Monday, Eskom had urged the public to reduce electricity usage, because its power generation system was severely constrained. It said four units had suffered breadowns, and that the return to service of two had been delayed.
“This, together with the inclement weather, which has increased the demand for electricity, has placed the power system under pressure,” Eskom said, adding that the constrained supply situation may persist throughout the week.
The state-owned utility’s R392-billion debt has hampered its ability to maintain some of its ageing coal-fired power stations and has led to 14 years of load-shedding.
Last month, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said Eskom’s debt problem may require some “fiscal intervention”, but only if the entity met certain conditions.