Power cuts pushed to stage two

Eskom began stage two power cuts as of 11:30 on Tuesday, the power producer said.

Spokesman Khulu Phasiwe confirmed the utility was escalating blackouts from stage one, implemented earlier on Tuesday morning, to stage two.

Stage one allows for up to 1 000 MW of the national load to be cut, stage two for up to 2 000 MW, and stage three for up to 4 000 MW.

Phasiwe said Eskom would release a statement on the power cuts later on Tuesday.

“Eskom will implement load shedding stage 1 from 10:30 today. It is likely to continue until 22:00. We will give updates throughout the day,” Eskom tweeted shortly after 09:00.

Earlier, Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger warned there was a good chance of further power cuts.

“The grid is exceptionally tight. There is a medium to high chance of load shedding today [Tuesday] if we do see further technical challenges developing.”

He said 25% of Eskom’s generator capacity was out because of technical problems.

“We won’t go to stage three unless it is absolutely necessary.”

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