File picture: Courtney Africa, ANA Archives
STRUGGLING power utility Eskom announced that it would be suspending load shedding from 11am on Monday.
According to Eskom’s crisis communication manager, Menzi Mngomezulu, this is because of a decrease in the demand for electricity.
“Due to the significantly lower than anticipated demand for electricity today, load shedding will be suspended from 11am today until 4pm on Tuesday, March 21, when Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented,” Mngomezulu said.
This comes after Eskom announced the suspension of load shedding on Sunday until 5am, when it would implement Stage 1 load shedding until 4pm and Stage 2 thereafter.
“Breakdowns are currently at 15,645MW of generating capacity while 4,942MW of generating capacity is out of service for planned maintenance.
“During the last 24 hours a generating unit at Duvha Power Station was taken offline for repairs. The delays in returning units to service at Matla, Tutuka and Medupi power stations continue,” Eskom said on Sunday.
The utility thanked South Africans for continuing to use electricity sparingly to help alleviate the pressure on the power grid.