Eskom Chief Operations Officer Jan Oberholzer says Stage 4 load shedding will give the power utility enough space to build up fast-depleting emergency reserves and avoid the risk of implementing Stage 6 load shedding.
Stage 4 load shedding was implemented on Wednesday morning following a barrage of breakdowns, shutdowns and trips at power stations across the country. This includes the loss of about seven units in one night, which left the power system under severe pressure.
“We again do apologise for the difficult situation we are placing the people of South Africa in and the negative impact to the economy. However…in order to protect and ensure the integrity of the electrical system, proactive implementation of load shedding is required,” Oberholzer said.
Compounding Eskom’s challenges are the 16 generating units, which Oberholzer said are currently “running at risk” – putting a further 5800MW of power at low to high risk.
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