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South Africa reached the deepest level of nationwide power cuts in months after the state-owned power company experienced a lack of available generation capacity.
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. implemented so-called Stage 6, taking 6,000 megawatts off the system to prevent a total collapse of the grid, “due to the shortage of generating capacity and emergency reserves,” it said in a statement Friday. The return of this level of electricity rationing — expected to last through Monday — is a step backward for South Africa’s government that has prioritized stabilizing the system.
Eskom last reached Stage 6 in September. Warmer weather in the southern hemisphere during the current months typically results in less electricity demand.
South African Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is scheduled to hold a press conference with Eskom executives at 3 p.m. local time in order to discuss the outage.
Eskom’s open-cycle gas turbines that run on diesel fuel are intended to help meet peak demand, but have been used for longer periods when the utility’s unreliable power plants can’t generate sufficient supply. Ramokgopa last week said South Africa will cap purchases of diesel used for the auxiliary units at 30 billion rand ($1.6 billion) for the current fiscal year.
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