(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's Eskom has begun implementing further power cuts from 4:00 p.m. local time today until 5 a.m. on April 20 due to additional generation unit losses and delayed return to service.
“The loss of four additional generation units at Matla, Tutuka, Duvha and Arnot power stations over the past 24 hours, exacerbated by the delay in units returning to service at Camden, Matla, Grootvlei and Tutuka power stations, has unfortunately necessitated the implementation of loadshedding,” the company said in a Twitter post.
The South African utility had recently warned of a possibility that rotational blackouts will be required to be implemented during the week as the demand returns. Eskom is scrutinizing contracts to buy power from a government program for private developers to quickly bring on board additional generation.
“The power system remains unpredictable, and Eskom would like to inform the public that any further deterioration in generation capacity may require higher stages of loadshedding. We therefore request the public to continue using electricity sparingly, as we strive to return units to service,” it said in the tweet.
Eskom currently has 5,474 megawatts on planned maintenance, while another 17,018 megawatts of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns, it added.
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