State electricity supplier Eskom announced early today (Tuesday) that Stage 1 loadshedding will be implemented from 10am.
#PowerAlert: #Loadshedding Stage 1 will be implemented from 10h00 – 22h00 today. We urge electricity consumers to reduce their energy usage.
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 3, 2015
Yesterday we reported that the power utility revealed that a fault at the Koeberg nuclear power station has put half of Koeberg’s generation capabilities out of commission. “Unit 1 of the Koeberg power station is currently out of service due to a technical fault on the main generator transformer at the power station, which resulted in the unit being isolated from the national grid,” Eskom said in a statement.
Unit 1 of Koeberg power station is currently out of service due to a technical fault on the main generator transformer. Unit 2 is unaffected — Eskom Media Desk (@Eskom_MediaDesk) February 1, 2015
While the Koeberg issues seems to be resolved, Eskom said that the system is still constrained. “Because our system is very vulnerable, if you lose any capacity from the grid, it brings you to the edge of LoadShedding,” it commented.
JUST IN: #Eskom: “Hopefully #LoadShedding will not go on to Stage 2″
— Jacaranda Newsteam (@JacaNews) February 3, 2015
[Image – CC by 2.0/Lauren Rushing]