Sian Crampsie
Eskom has been forced to implement more round of load shedding this month due to repeated faults at the firm’s power plant fleet.
The South African state-owned utility has implemented its loadshedding programme on several occasions in March, and has warned that the risk to supplies remains high.
The move is the result of repeated faults at its fleet of conventional power plants, including newly-commissioned units at Kusile, a 4.8 GW power plant under construction in Mpumalanga Province. Eskom is struggling to overcome its operational challenges due to its precarious financial position.
More than one-quarter of Eskom’s 45 GW of installed generating capacity is off-line for unplanned maintenance, according to reports. The company has been shedding between 2000 MW and 4000 MW of load throughout March.
