Joburg not excluded from load-shedding ‘for now’, says Eskom

Johannesburg's City Power will follow and implement the directive of Eskom's System Operator, and implement load-shedding on its customers as required.

This was announced on Monday in a joint statement by Eskom and City Power.

Eskom said it would continue to work with City Power in the national interest and to protect the national grid.

“The collective understanding by both entities is to protect the national power grid while reducing the impact of load-shedding.

“Eskom and City Power will continue searching for a lasting technical solution which would result in City Power customers in the City of Johannesburg being partially excluded from load-shedding.”

This comes after City Power entered into a power purchase agreement with the Kelvin Power Station, which will enable City Power to draw additional capacity to offset the first two stages of load-shedding.

After signing the deal, City Power wrote to Eskom requesting to be excluded from load-shedding at Stages 1 and 2.

“Technical teams from both Eskom and City Power will continue to consider the technical aspects of the Kelvin Power Station and verify the additional capacity that can be added to the national grid.

“The teams will also explore technical possibilities that may see City of Johannesburg partially shielded from load-shedding in future,” the statement read.

TimesLIVE