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Johannesburg - Due to more heavy rain expected, the load shedding situation is "not looking good" for Friday, Eskom warned on Thursday.
Unlike in previous power emergencies declared in the last two weeks, Eskom was forced to impose blackouts on urban areas.
This is the fourth energy emergency declared in just as many months and "it's the worst one so far," according to an Eskom official, who asked not to be named.
Eskom imposed rolling blackouts for the first time since 2008 on Thursday, forcing rail networks and banks to switch to emergency generators after heavy rains soaked power station coal supplies.
Generators roared into life in Johannesburg's Sandton financial district and the Gautrain rail link between Johannesburg and Pretoria switched to emergency power, the operator said.
In 2008 factories and mines were forced to shutter, costing the economy billions of dollars and contributed to a credit ratings downgrade, a sell off in the rand and an outflow of investment.
However, unlike in 2008, the rand took the outages in its stride, firming to 10.68 against the dollar by midday, its strongest since mid-January, while the JSE's All-Share index hit a record high.
Supply
Eskom supplies around 95% of SA's electricity. It is under pressure to boost capacity and rejuvenate an ageing power grid, but is struggling to meet deadlines.
Heavy rains over the last few days and an increase in technical problems experienced at some of Eskom's power stations, have squeezed supplies on the national grid.
Executives from Exxaro, South Africa's second-largest coal producer, were giving a results presentation to investors in a building that had to switch to a back-up generator.
But many small businesses did not have that luxury.
"We don't have power. Our computers are not working. At the moment we are not productive. We are just sitting," said Nelani Mashava, a tour consultant at a Johannesburg travel agency.
"The office is totally dark," she added. "We just have light from the windows."
New power plants
Eskom is battling to keep SA's economy powered up as it races to construct new plants amid rising demand.
Eskom is building three new coal-fired stations, which will see the country's generation and transmission capacity jump by another 17 000 megawatts from an average 40 000 MW.
One of the biggest coal fired power plants, Medupi, was supposed to have come on stream by the end of last year, but is now running behind schedule due to contractor bungling and labour disputes.
Heavily dependent on coal, South Africa is also looking at expanding nuclear energy production and venturing into shale gas.
Election
The blackouts come at a bad time for President Jacob Zuma and the ANC, with general elections in two months.
Load shedding caused misery for millions during an electricity crunch in 2008 that cost Africa's largest economy billions of dollars in lost output.
Unlike in previous power emergencies declared in the last two weeks, Eskom was forced to impose blackouts on urban areas.
This is the fourth energy emergency declared in just as many months and "it's the worst one so far," according to an Eskom official, who asked not to be named.
Eskom imposed rolling blackouts for the first time since 2008 on Thursday, forcing rail networks and banks to switch to emergency generators after heavy rains soaked power station coal supplies.
Generators roared into life in Johannesburg's Sandton financial district and the Gautrain rail link between Johannesburg and Pretoria switched to emergency power, the operator said.
In 2008 factories and mines were forced to shutter, costing the economy billions of dollars and contributed to a credit ratings downgrade, a sell off in the rand and an outflow of investment.
However, unlike in 2008, the rand took the outages in its stride, firming to 10.68 against the dollar by midday, its strongest since mid-January, while the JSE's All-Share index hit a record high.
Supply
Eskom supplies around 95% of SA's electricity. It is under pressure to boost capacity and rejuvenate an ageing power grid, but is struggling to meet deadlines.
Heavy rains over the last few days and an increase in technical problems experienced at some of Eskom's power stations, have squeezed supplies on the national grid.
Executives from Exxaro, South Africa's second-largest coal producer, were giving a results presentation to investors in a building that had to switch to a back-up generator.
But many small businesses did not have that luxury.
"We don't have power. Our computers are not working. At the moment we are not productive. We are just sitting," said Nelani Mashava, a tour consultant at a Johannesburg travel agency.
"The office is totally dark," she added. "We just have light from the windows."
New power plants
Eskom is battling to keep SA's economy powered up as it races to construct new plants amid rising demand.
Eskom is building three new coal-fired stations, which will see the country's generation and transmission capacity jump by another 17 000 megawatts from an average 40 000 MW.
One of the biggest coal fired power plants, Medupi, was supposed to have come on stream by the end of last year, but is now running behind schedule due to contractor bungling and labour disputes.
Heavily dependent on coal, South Africa is also looking at expanding nuclear energy production and venturing into shale gas.
Election
The blackouts come at a bad time for President Jacob Zuma and the ANC, with general elections in two months.
Load shedding caused misery for millions during an electricity crunch in 2008 that cost Africa's largest economy billions of dollars in lost output.
