Load-shedding risk high this week

"The system will continue to be under severe pressure over the coming week, so the risk of load shedding remains high. There is a shortage of generation capacity due to units that are currently out of service due to planned and unplanned maintenance.

"The focus is on returning the units that are on unplanned maintenance back on line in order to increase available capacity," said the utility in a statement on Sunday.

"We call on all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly in order to limit the severity of load-shedding. Businesses and households can make a difference by implementing energy-saving measures in their processes and daily lives".

The utility had implemented load-shedding at the weekend.

From today, Koeberg Power Station's Unit 1 will be shut down for a scheduled refuelling, inspection and maintenance outage. The unit is expected to return back to service at the end of May.

The scheduled shutdown of Koeberg Unit 1 is part of Eskom's overall maintenance programme for its fleet of power stations. Every 16 to 18 months, each of the two units at Koeberg is shut down for refuelling, inspection and maintenance. The routine shutdowns are scheduled to avoid having both units out of service at the same time and to avoid the winter months each year.

During these routine planned outages, one third of the used nuclear fuel is replaced with new fuel. Statutory inspections, maintenance and modifications are performed to ensure that international safety standards continue to be met.