Loadshedding reduced as Eskom recovers

State-owned electricity supplier, Eskom, has announced that loadshedding will be gradually reduced during the course of the week.

South Africa is expected to recover from Stage 6 loadshedding which has left many households and industries in the dark over the past week.

Eskom has also released a schedule outlining the loadshedding plan from February 26 to March 1.

The schedule reveals that on February 26, Stage 4 loadshedding started at midnight and will continue until 16:00 on February 27.

After that, Stage 5 loadshedding will be implemented until 05:00 on February 28.

On February 28 and March 1, loadshedding will be reduced to Stage 3 during the day and increased to Stage 4 during the night.

According to Eskom on Sunday (February 26), several generating units were returned to service at power stations over the past 24 hours.

However, breakdowns at power stations in Camden, Majuba, and Matimba caused units to be taken offline for repairs. Additionally, delays in returning generating units to service at Arnot, Hendrina, Kendal, Medupi, and Tutuka power stations are contributing to the current capacity constraints.

Moreover, Eskom has reduced electricity imports from the Cahora Bassa Hydro Scheme in Mozambique to 600MW due to a tower failure on one of the lines from that country.

Eskom has urged its customers to use electricity sparingly and to switch off all non-essential appliances during loadshedding.

The utility has also promised to publish another update as soon as any significant changes occur.