https://www.miningweekly.com
Africa|Coal|Financial|Generator|Power|System|Maintenance|Infrastructure
Africa|Coal|Financial|Generator|Power|System|Maintenance|Infrastructure
africa|coal|financial|generator|power|system|maintenance|infrastructure

Eskom resumes rolling blackouts after generation units break down once more

Eskom resumes rolling blackouts after generation units break down once more

Photo by Creamer Media's Donna Slater

1st September 2020

By: African News Agency

  

Font size: - +

South African utility Eskom said on Tuesday it would be forced to resume rotational power cuts from 12:00 to 22:00 due to breakdowns in its generating units which slashed power supply.

"Eskom regrets to inform the public that due to a severely constrained generation system as a result of multiple unit breakdowns, it has become necessary to implement stage 2 load shedding," the State-owned company said, warning this was likely to persist for the rest of the week.

It said ten generation units at seven power stations had suffered breakdowns over the last 48 hours.

Stage 2 load shedding entails suppressing 2 000 megawatts of electricity demand at a given time to avoid overwhelming and tripping the national grid.

Eskom said a generator each had broken down down at the Arnot, Medupi, Lethabo and Matla power stations, while two units each at Majuba, Camden and Tutuka power stations failed. 

This, together with the need to conserve emergency generation reserves, necessitated rolling blackouts in order to protect the integrity of the system.

"Unplanned breakdowns stand at 11 665 MW of capacity, adding to the 4 558 MW currently out on planned maintenance," the company said. "Any further deterioration in the generation performance may necessitate the escalation of load shedding at short notice."

Load shedding has been a fact of life in South Africa for more than a decade due to breakdowns in Eskom's infrastructure partly to years of inadequate maintenance. The utility supplies some 95 percent of the country's electricity, most of it coal-fired.

Eskom's problems are compounded by financial constraints largely blamed on years of mismanagement by senior executives, many of whom left the company under a cloud of allegations of corruption.

Edited by African News Agency

Comments

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Environmental Assurance (Pty) Ltd.
Environmental Assurance (Pty) Ltd.

ENVASS is a customer and solutions-driven environmental consultancy with established divisions, serviced by highly qualified and experienced...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.14 0.174s - 91pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now