File picture: Timothy Bernard
STAGE 3 load shedding will be implemented on Tuesday afternoon at 4pm until 5am on Wednesday morning.
Eskom spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha said Stage 3 will be implemented on Wednesday afternoon at the same time.
"Stage 2 load shedding will continue being implemented at 5am until 4pm daily until further notice. Eskom will publish a further update as soon as there are any significant changes," Mantshantsha said.
Eskom said a generating unit each at Camden and Kendal power stations had been taken off-line for repairs over the past 24 hours.
“The delay in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Kriel and Matla power stations has contributed to the capacity constraints,” Mantshantsha added.
He said a generating unit each at Arnot, Duvha, Grootvlei, Kendal, Kriel and Lethabo and two units at Majuba were returned to service during this period.
“We currently have 4,394MW on planned maintenance, while another 16,880MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
“As previously communicated, due to the depletion of the budget to acquire diesel for the open cycle gas turbines, Eskom has been forced to strictly conserve the remainder of the fuel reserves to protect against further unplanned outages,” Mantshantsha said.
The refuelling and maintenance outage starting this week, as well as the long-term operation project of Unit 1 of the Koeberg nuclear power station, together with the October chimney failure that has forced three generation units off-line at Kusile power station, will further reduce available generation capacity and significantly increase the occurrence of load shedding during the next six to 12 months.