South Africans are in for more intense power cuts this week. Eskom will implement Stage 3 load shedding on Monday and Tuesday evening.
The power utility said it will resume with Stage 2 load shedding 17:00 until 22:00 tonight but it is forced to escalate this to Stage 3 on Monday and Tuesday evening due to a further loss of generating capacity. Thereafter, load shedding will be reduced to Stage 2 for the rest of the week.
"Eskom will continue to closely monitor the system, adjust and communicate any changes as may be necessary. Since yesterday evening, breakdowns occurred on a unit each at Tutuka, Camden and Majuba power stations," said Eskom in a statement.
It added that while a generating unit each returned to service at Hendrina and Majuba power stations today, it still has 2 094MW of generating capacity down due to planned maintenance, and another 17 640MW out because of breakdowns.
"Eskom appeals to all South Africans to help limit the impact of load shedding by reducing the usage of electricity and to switch off all non-essential items," said Eskom.
It urged consumers to us electricity sparingly especially between 05:00 – 09:00 in the mornings and 16:00 – 22:00 in the evenings.
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