The power system is expected to remain very tight over the next few days, according to Eskom.

The power utility’s decision to implement load shedding over the weekend was taken to restore water and diesel reserves for the week, to allow maintenance at the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power station in Mozambique, and to do a small amount of weekend maintenance.

“The system is expected to remain very tight over the next few days. While Eskom will do its best to avoid load shedding, customers can make the biggest impact by reducing their usage throughout the day, including weekends,” said the power utility on Monday.

The Chief Executive of Eskom Tshediso Matona says the sacrifice that South Africans made over the weekend was not in vain.

Maintenance work at power stations

“Three units (Majuba 6, Drakensburg 1 and Lethabo 5) that were out of service due to technical problems were repaired over the weekend giving back much-needed megawatts into the system.

Diesel supplies have recovered significantly while our dam levels were at full capacity this morning. Imports from Cahora Bassa were fully restored to 1 530 MW by Monday morning. This puts the electricity system at a much better state to face the week ahead,” Matona explained.

Weekend load shedding

Stage 2 rotational load shedding was implemented on Saturday from 6:00 to 21:00. There was some improvement in the performance of the system, which led to a shorter load shedding period, which ended an hour earlier on Saturday and less intense on Sunday moving from stage 2 to stage 1 from 8:00 until 21:00.

Eskom said whether the reserves will last the entire week will depend on the extent that they need to be run in that week.

The utility said customers can assist by reducing the impact on the power system through the efficient use of electricity.