Cape Town – It’s almost a week since Eskom last implemented load shedding, in keeping with the supplier’s aim for load shedding-free June.
On Wednesday Eskom said no load shedding was anticipated for in the evening as it had adequate generating capacity to meet the demand in electricity.
It added that “the power system is expected to be constrained during the evening peak period (5pm - 9pm), mainly due to increased electricity demand”.
On Tuesday Unit 1 of the Koeberg nuclear power station outside Cape Town was returned back to service after a statutory three-month refuelling and maintenance programme.
READ: Koeberg unit also back as Eskom curbs load shedding
The Unit 1, which currently has a total output of 900MW, will help to further stabilise the power system ahead of the start of the cold peak periods this winter, according to Eskom.
There has not been load shedding since Thursday last week, and Eskom said its plan is to continue reducing the maintenance backlog without having to implement load shedding.
Speaking at the launch of the Transnet Development Hub on Friday, Eskom acting CEO Brian Molefe said planned maintenance was mostly completed and so the utility was able to generate more power to meet the increased demand.
"[There will be] no planned load shedding this winter," he said, according to an Eskom tweet.