South Africans have enjoyed a precious several days without load shedding – but Eskom has warned that this could soon be over.
In a statement on Monday, the ailing power utility said the cold weather conditions expected during winter will push demand for electricity up.
This will in turn put pressure on the power system and the risk of load shedding will therefore be high. Eskom’s CEO Phakamani Hadebe said:
We have done an extensive winter plan and review of our power system and identified the problems.
While the plan gives us confidence that we may go through winter with no or limited load shedding, we are mindful of the potential risks on a very tight power system…which could result in load shedding.
Eskom CEO Phakamani Hadebe
Eskom therefore appealed to South Africans to use power sparingly to help avert load shedding.
It said it would also launch a “Use electricity smartly” campaign this week to help reduce pressure on the power system.