Eskom: Energy grid under 'severe pressure' - risk of load shedding remains high

• Eskom has noted the expected rise in demand for energy from South African consumers, presenting a heightened risk of load shedding.
• Despite subdued demand due to the hard lockdown, Eskom still had to implement loadshedding last year.
• Eskom spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha said the system has been under severe pressure for at least the past two weeks. 

As SA braces for winter, Eskom says the grid is beginning to take strain under increased demand as the power utility continues to roll out its maintenance programme.

Asked about the likelihood of load shedding in the coming days, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha would not give specifics.

He said, however, that the power system had been under severe pressure for at least two weeks as winter demand started to kick in.

Despite subdued demand for a quarter of the year due to a hard lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, Eskom still had to implement loadshedding during the 2020 lockdown.

Last year, major contributors to load shedding included infrastructure breakdowns and the inability to maintain special equipment as the skills needed to do so were abroad and could not enter the country under lockdown.

This year, Eskom has said it its maintenance programme is beginning to yield results. But a less strict lockdown than a year ago means demand will be all the higher this winter.

"The average daily supply is currently around 31 000MW, about 3 500MW higher than in January," Mantshantsha said.

"Eskom has been meeting demand through its demand management strategies, as well as supplementing supply with the usage of Open Cycle Gas Turbines," he added.

As typically expected of power demand when winter rolls by, Mantshantsha said the average daily supply of energy currently stood at around 31 000MW, which is about 4 000MW higher than at the beginning of the year.

The risk of load shedding remained high due to ongoing maintenance and high demand, he said.

"As Eskom has communicated consistently, the risk of load shedding remains elevated while the reliability maintenance programme is underway. In winter, when demand is highest, this risk of load shedding is particularly pronounced," Mantshantsha said.

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Eskom's Twitter feed has also been communicating regularly that the grid is under "severe pressure" at peak times.

On Thursday evening, Eskom tweeted that it was responding to technical difficulties related to cables in Johannesburg and that this caused an outage in Sandton.

The power utility has also tweeted notices of load reduction in areas including Limpopo, the North West Province, the Free State and Mpumalanga.

*This article was amended, as the worst year of loadshedding on record was, in fact 2015, and not 2020. Fin24 regrets the error.

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