S.African power utility implements Stage 6 power cuts

Locals walk past electricity pylons during frequent power outages from South African utility Eskom, caused by its aging coal-fired plants, in Soweto, South Africa, July 3, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

CAPE TOWN, Sept 18 (Reuters) – South African power utility Eskom has implemented Stage 6 power cuts from 4:16 a.m. (0216 GMT) on Sunday after more generating units at its Kusile and Kriel power stations tripped offline.

The utility appealed to the public to help conserve electricity as it moved to its highest level of power cuts, only the third time since Eskom started what it calls “loadshedding” following a chronic power crisis that started more than a decade ago.

Eskom, which gets most of its electricity from ageing coal-fired power plants prone to breakdowns, plans to cut about 6,000 megawatts of power to help prevent a catastrophic collapse of the national electricity grid.

The last time struggling Eskom resorted to Stage 6, which means at least six hours without power a day for most South Africans, was in June. It had previously done so during a power crisis in December 2019. read more

Eskom will brief the media at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) to provide an update on the way forward.

Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard

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