Eskom says no possibility of load shedding on Monday

Eskom said there is no immediate possibility of load shedding on Monday after the power utility implemented Stage 1 power cuts on Sunday. 

Spokesperson Dikatso Mothae said the system was working much better and there was no immediate risk of load shedding.

Eskom’s power generating capacity remained constrained, Mothae added, as a number of the firm’s aging coal-fired power stations were "not operating optimally."

On Sunday, parts of the country were hit by power cuts from 12:15 to 22:00, as the cash-strapped power utility's generators battled with capacity constraints.

• READ: Eskom implements loadshedding
  

Last week, CEO Phakamani Hadebe outlined the dire state of some of the firm's coal-fired power stations, saying 10 stations had less than 20 coal stock days, as per the grid code requirement.

Coal supply problems at Eskom power plants have been blamed on Tegeta's operational failures, which have put pressure on stock piles. The Gupta-linked company is currently undergoing business rescue.

In his system status update, Hadebe said generation availability had "deteriorated to below what we aspired to achieve".

He said load shedding could not be ruled out for the remainder of 2018.

As of November 15, coal stock levels were at 25.6 days. This figure was expected to grow to 28.2 days by 31 March 2019.