- Eskom to implement stage 2 load shedding as it losses Koeberg Unit 1
- To utilise emergency reserves
South Africa’s state-owned utility, Eskom, will begin implementing stage 2 load shedding following a breakdown of Unit 1 of the Koeberg nuclear power plant. Over the weekend, Eskom utilised emergency reserves to avoid load shedding; however, it will implement stage 2 load shedding to replenish its emergency reserves.
“Eskom has made some progress in replenishing the emergency generation reserves. However, due to the loss of Koeberg Unit 1, we anticipate the need to utilise emergency reserves extensively during the next few days to avoid load shedding. In order to achieve this, Stage 2 load shedding will be required during Monday and Tuesday nights in order to replenish the emergency reserves for the following day,” Eskom said.
Eskom stated that the Koeberg plant failed due to a fault in the feed water pump. “There are no nuclear safety concerns on the reactor side of the plant, which is ready to be restarted once the feed water pump fault has been resolved. The investigation into the feed water pump fault is in progress.
The load shedding will begin today, Monday and tomorrow Tuesday from 9 pm until 5 am.