UPDATE: Eskom takes it up a notch to stage 4

Eskom will now implement stage 4 loadshedding from 10:00am till 23:00pm on Monday due to a shortage of capacity and breakdown of its generating units.

READ: Eskom implements stage 2 loadshedding, again

Eskom expressed that loadshedding is direly required today following it using its emergency resources such as diesel and water at their open gas turbines and pumped storage schemes to boost capacity.

“Loadshedding is required all day today to cater for further trips and to create the capacity to replenish water reserves for our pumped storage schemes,” it said in a statement.

By 06:00am on Monday, unplanned breakdowns were at 12 465MW with Eskom warning that the possibility of implementing loadshedding until the end of the week remains very high.

Eskom appealed with its customers to reduce demand to help lessen the implementation of loadshedding as flooding, in some of its power stations is impacting coal handling and operations are impacted which “could lead to capacity load losses and impact supply.”

Eskom adds that it’ll communicate changes and status of the electricity system.