Power utility Eskom has announced the suspension of load shedding from 10am on Sunday.

“After the recovery of more than 3,000 MW of generation capacity and replenishment of sufficient emergency reserves in the past 44 hours, load shedding will be suspended today (Sunday) at 10am,” the power utility said in a statement.

“Coal operations at Kusile power station are at optimal levels. All units that were offline as of Friday are now back in service. Progress on the recovery of Koeberg Unit 2 is well underway. Eskom reassures the public that Koeberg Unit 2 remains safe.”

IOL previously reported that Stage 3 load shedding was implemented from 2pm on Friday. The dreaded power interruptions were expected to last until 5am on Monday.

On Sunday, Eskom added that planned maintenance outages aimed at preparing for winter and meeting regulatory and environmental licensing requirements continue.

“The team is working diligently to restore 4,091 MW back to service by Monday. Eskom’s summer outlook, published on 26 August 2024, remains unchanged,” the power utility added.

“We maintain that load shedding is largely behind us due to structural improvements in the generation fleet. While baseload capacity remains constrained, our generation recovery plan is addressing this challenge. The dedicated efforts of our highly skilled staff remain unwavering.”

On Saturday, IOL reported that Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, and Eskom had apologised to South African communities over the implementation of load shedding, which has hit South Africa from Friday.

When the load shedding was announced on Friday, Eskom said the decision follows a 98% availability of power supply, affected by a 2,700 MW loss.

On Saturday, Ramokgopa led a media briefing in Tshwane, where he issued apologies for the load shedding.

“I really want to start by, again, just conveying my sincere apology to the rest of the country for the gross inconvenience caused by load shedding,” said Ramokgopa while addressing journalists to provide an update on the status of South Africa’s electricity generation performance.

"I have made the point previously that we should never be accustomed to load shedding. It is an anomaly and something we are working very hard to ensure that we are able to liquidate - both as Eskom and as a country - because it is going to stunt the potential for growth and is going to undermine the growth story that the president articulated during the occasion of the State of the Nation Address.”

Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.

“I really want to say I am exceptionally disappointed about the events that have happened. In the past 30 days or so, in February we came again on the back of some failures at Lethabo and Matimba and we initiated stages of load shedding,” he said.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL