South Africa's Eskom sees lower risk of power cuts during winter

28th May 2020 By: Reuters

South Africa's Eskom sees lower risk of power cuts during winter

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter
Photo by: Donna Slater

South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom expects only 3 days of stage one power cuts, where up to 1 000 megawatts is taken off the national grid, during the winter period when demand increases, the chief executive officer said on Wednesday.

"We anticipate three days of stage one load-shedding only during the winter period which is a significant improvement from our previous forecasts," Andre de Ruyter told lawmakers in a presentation to parliament.

Cash-strapped Eskom has over the years regularly cut power to residents and businesses as it struggles with ageing coal-fired power plants that generate around 90 percent of the electricity in Africa's most industrialised economy.