Sep 18 2022 20:46
South Africa is once again experiencing severe power outages due to failed old facilities and poor maintenance, public company Eskom said on Sunday. South Africa is the continent’s first industrial power, with a population of about 60 million.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter apologized for the sharp and frequent outages at a press conference, declaring a “high level of rationing this week.”
On a scale of eight possible levels of legalization, the country has reached a critical sixth stage. This results in residents and businesses having to endure daily outages of several hours.
The country reached the sixth stage of rationing in June in the southern winter period with an increase in energy consumption and great pressure on production.
Usually, the rise in temperatures with the advent of spring, starting in September, leads to a decrease in consumption, especially with the cessation of heating.
Eskom takes advantage of this period to shut down production units in order to carry out maintenance work. But a large number of plant failures amounting to 45 within seven days led to a significant drop in electricity production.
“Level 6 rationing will remain in place until the generation units are back in operation adequately,” said Jan Oberholzer, Eskom’s chief operating officer.
Source: agencies
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