Eskom has announced that the probability of load shedding will be low until 13 January 2019, as the demand for electricity will drop after businesses close for the festive season—in other words, South Africans can enjoy their Christmas holidays without worrying about power cuts.
“The probability of load shedding remains low from today until Sunday 13 January 2019. This is as a result of the expected decrease in demand [for electricity] as businesses and industries close down for the festive break,” the public utility says.
Eskom also warns that the heavy rain predicted to fall from that time until March could have a detrimental effect on its generation capacity, as its coal may dampen.
“During the December period, Eskom will intensify its maintenance activities in an effort to improve generation capacity for the return of businesses and industries in the new year. Steady progress has been made with regards to fixing coal stockpiles,” Eskom says.
The national enterprise has also signed 35 new coal contracts this year, which will ensure a supply of 18.6-megatonnes of coal.
“In preparation for continuous rains, three days of compacted strategic stockpiles have been created at power stations. While we do not anticipate load shedding over the holiday period, local power outages could occur, not as a result of load shedding, but due to technical faults on the distribution network,” it says.
Source: IOL
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