The chance of power cuts on Wednesday is low to medium, power utility Eskom said on Wednesday.

“Today’s load shedding prognosis is low to medium. Medium to high during the evening, dependent on the performance of the generating plant,” the electricity supplier posted on its Twitter account at 8.48am.

On Tuesday, energy department director general Wolsey Barnard said it would take 20 to 30 months before Eskom had caught up with maintenance and was back on the right track.

“It’s going to take time, it’s going to take in the vicinity of 20 to 30 months. But for the next couple of months, we’re going to pay severe attention to get maintenance up, get normality up in the supply,” Barnard told the Africa Energy Indada in Sandton, Johannesburg.

This was the first step in addressing energy needs in the country and would ensure a “safe” gap between supply and demand.

“Load shedding is to protect our network… to prevent blackouts. The country is not aiming at blackouts.”

Government was also looking at co-generation, using gas and coal, as part of the integrated resource plan, he said. SAPA