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South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, has announced that it will cut 3,000 megawatts of power in controlled outages, known locally as load-shedding, from 5:30 pm (15:30 GMT) on Saturday until further notice, following a temporary setback.
At the end of January, Eskom implemented similar power cuts after 10 months of uninterrupted supply, as the utility strives to overcome chronic outages that have hindered economic growth for years.
In a statement, Eskom said it would provide an update on Sunday but did not specify the cause of the latest setback.
It is understood that frequent breakdowns at Eskom’s fleet of ageing coal-fired power plants, which supply the majority of electricity in Africa’s most industrialised economy, are often the reason for load-shedding.
Load-shedding is managed in stages, with stage 1 cutting 1,000 MW from the national grid, and stage 6 being the highest implemented to date.
In other news, The Federal Government recently shared plans to transfer the majority of electricity users in Nigeria to Band A, where they can expect a steady 20-hour daily supply. This policy adjustment aims to elevate service quality, providing a dependable energy boost to support both residential and commercial needs.
Speaking on Wednesday, the government disclosed this as the Transmission Company of Nigeria marked a key achievement, reporting that the nation’s power generation had hit a record peak of 5,543.20 megawatts.
This remarkable feat occurred on Friday, February 14, 2025, at 11:00 PM, exceeding the previous day’s peak of 5,478.73MW and marking a new high in Nigeria’s electricity generation.
The company’s management, in a statement issued on Wednesday, disclosed this record-breaking milestone.
The statement read, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria is pleased to announce that the Nigerian Power Sector achieved a new peak generation of 5,543.20MW for the year 2025, On Friday, February 14, 2025, at 11:00 pm. This surpasses the previous peak of 5,478.73MW recorded on Thursday, February 13, 2025.”
