Load shedding a last resort

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    Eskom says it will implement load shedding when absolutely necessary.

    On Thursday afternoon, the power utility alerted South Africans of a high risk of load shedding following a shortage of capacity due to the loss of generating units at its power stations.

    However, load shedding was not implemented on Thursday night, as the demand for electricity was lower than anticipated.

    The power utility had also received additional megawatts than projected from the wind power plants.

    At a media briefing earlier this month, Eskom shared its Winter Plan where it indicated that it expects to implement 26 days of Stage 1 load shedding during the winter period, depending on the level of unplanned breakdowns. 

    “Based on the Winter Plan, Eskom has successfully managed to go through 5 days without load shedding, where Stage 1 load shedding would have been implemented,” it said on Thursday night.

    Eskom has appealed to residents and businesses to use electricity smartly and sparingly.

    “By rallying together we can contribute to a saving of up to 500MW, which is equivalent of 1 unit at a power station. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand,” it said.