Eskom head office at Megawatt Park on Maxwell drive Sandton near Johannesburg. Picture: Timothy Bernard African News Agency (ANA)
Power utility Eskom has announced planned 10-hour outages in Soweto and the Braamfischerville area from Tuesday until Thursday. The outages will take place from 8am until 6pm.
The power utility said customers in the affected areas would have no power as officials replaced rotten poles which carry medium voltage powerlines.
“Eskom would like to inform customers in Soweto, Braamfischerville of an electricity supply interruption due to maintenance to be conducted on the distribution network.
“Eskom will be replacing rotten poles that carry the medium voltage powerlines as part of its maintenance programme,” said Eskom in a notice.
The maintenance work in the area started last week, with power disconnected between Wednesday and Thursday, while it will be switched off for 10-hour periods on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, while the planned maintenance will also take place next Tuesday and Wednesday.
“In the interest of safety, customers are advised to treat all electrical appliances as live at all times during the power supply outage.
“Eskom would like to thank you for your cooperation and apologises for any inconvenience that may be caused by this maintenance,” the power utility said.
Eskom is currently on Day 196 since South Africa experienced any load shedding blackouts.
The power utility has been able to keep the lights on after concerted efforts by the new Eskom leadership led by chief executive Dan Marokane and support from Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
Last week, Eskom told IOL it had spent about R6 billion on diesel in the last six months to avert load shedding by powering the Open Cycle Gas Turbines.
The utility has highlighted however that this represented a R11.5 billion in cost savings compared to the previous financial year.
Last week, Eskom said it's Energy Availability Factor (EAF) averaged 61% over the past week and 63.2% year-to-date, with the top-performing stations such as Kusile, Majuba, Camden, while Duvha Power Station achieved 81.9% EAF on Friday, marking significant milestone in the recovery plan.
Eskom said the ongoing improvement in power performance was due to the generation fleet's recovery plan, accelerated maintenance, collaboration with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and the dedication of power station managers and their teams.
Eskom expects a load shedding free festive summer and festive season, with their outlook predicting load shedding in March next year.
Meanwhile, MPs are expected to conducted an oversight visit at the Medupi power station and at the Eskom headquarters this week.
IOL