Power system to remain tight: Eskom

(Image extracted from the Eskom website)

"The system is expected to remain very tight over the next few days. While Eskom will do its best to avoid load shedding, customers can make the biggest impact by reducing their usage throughout the day, including weekends," said the power utility on Monday.

During this past weekend, most South Africans experienced load shedding. The weekend was used to restore water and diesel reserves for the week.

Eskom said whether the reserves will last the entire week will depend on the extent that they need to be run in that week.

The utility said customers can assist by reducing the impact on the power system through the efficient use of electricity.

The Cahora Bassa plant was shut down on Sunday as per planned maintenance and returned to service yesterday evening after repairs were completed.

However, this took longer than planned and the delay resulted in the use of open cycle gas turbines on Sunday over the evening peak.

"Eskom calls on all South Africans to pull together over the next few months and use electricity sparingly by 'living lightly' this summer.

"Less is more this summer and homeowners and businesses can do so with just four steps: first, switching off geysers and pool pumps; second, switching off non-essential lights; third, efficient use of air-conditioners by keeping the room temperature at 23°C; and finally, responding to the alerts on TV each evening."