Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer
Photo by: Creamer Media Chief Photographer Donna Slater
Eskom reported a material improvement in the performance of its power stations on Friday morning and indicated that it would review, by 17:00, whether it was necessary for it to sustain load-shedding over the weekend.
CEO Andre de Ruyter reported that total unplanned losses had reduced to 11 258 MW, from above 14 000 MW when six days of Stage 2 load-shedding were declared on Wednesday February 2.
Rotational cuts are currently scheduled to continue until 5:00 on Monday morning, February 7.
COO Jan Oberholzer reported during a briefing on Friday morning that several coal units, including at the troubled Kusile power station, had been returned to service, while pumped-storage upper dams and diesel stocks had also been largely replenished.
The utility would continue to monitor developments during the course of the day and would, by 17:00, take a decision as to whether load-shedding should continue until Monday.
De Ruyter said that any decision to suspend load-shedding would not be "unduly delayed" and that Eskom would take an informed decision based on the needs of the system and the outlook.
The decision, once taken, would also be communicated as quickly as possible.