The power system is expected to be tight due to the nippy and cloudy weather conditions, says Eskom.

“The system is expected to be tight over the evening peaks for the next few days as a result of the continued nippy and cloudy weather conditions which are forecasted for the next few days as well as the loss of additional units at our power stations as a result of technical faults,” said Eskom.

In its system status bulletin the power utility said that generating capacity at the Majuba power station is at around 1600MW. This as the power station is faced with wet coal challenges given that some of the coal handling is taking place out in the open.

However, Eskom has implemented a wet coal management strategy to ensure that the wet coal risk is reduced at other power stations.

“It is however not possible to neutralise this risk completely, especially over periods of prolonged high rainfall,” it said.

Recently the country was plunged into darkness after one of the silos at the power station located in Mpumalanga cracked and later collapsed. This left South Africans without electricity.

The utility called on South Africans to save electricity.

“Less is more this summer and homeowners and businesses can do so with just four steps: first, switching off geysers and pool pumps; second, switching off non-essential lights; third, efficient use of air-conditioners by keeping the room temperature at 23⁰C; and finally, responding to the alerts on TV each evening.”