Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has again appealed for electricity to be used sparingly as the power utility battles to keep the lights on in South Africa amid Stage 6 blackouts on Sunday.

Eskom escalated rolling blackouts to Stage 6 this morning due to a continued loss in generating capacity.

De Ruyter says everyone is called to use electricity wisely

” I have already requested municipalities in South Africa to access where they have low critical loads that can be switched off. I will also be engaging with representatives of organised business to request further assistance on managing particularly the peaks, similarly the lighting of office buildings at night is something that can give us some room to breath,” says De Ruyter.

Stage 6: Unplanned load losses and maintenance issues

Unplanned load losses at Eskom as a result of units out of planned maintenance have resulted in Eskom making a decision to implement Stage 6 load shedding.

Speaking at the Eskom briefing on Sunday morning, De Ruyter says the grid was placed under serious pressure this week.

He says power utility needs to now replenish reserves in order to maintain a safety buffer.

Stage 6 load shedding, which will likely remain for the rest of the day, was implemented just after 4am this morning, after the tripping of a generating unit each at Kusile and Kriel power stations.

De Ruyter says liquidity to buy diesel is a problem.

Source: SABC News