- During the night copper bars and the reactor earth bars on the unit 5 at Hendrina power station were removed plus copper wires were removed from two other units at the plant.
- At Duvha power station, the incorrect oil was used at unit 2 delaying redeployment.
- Both incidents follow acts of sabotage earlier this week at Tutuka power station where a cable was deliberately severed and a control air pipe supplying the Turbine systems had been cut with a power tool. Read more
- All of the latest incidents have prevented Eskom from returning generation units back to service, depriving the country of well over 1000MW of generation capacity.
The latest incidents are part of a series of incidents over the last year that indicate a sinister force is at hand to derail Eskoms’ turnaround strategy. A total of nine employees at Eskom’s Medupi power station were suspended for procedural non-compliance following an explosion that took out a brand new generation unit in August 2021. Read more
Eskom has reported all incidents to the police.
Related news: Crime does not pay and we will get them in the end – Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter
Loadingshedding to continue over the weekend
Eskom announced today that the loss of two Hendrina and one Lethabo Power Station units since this morning, together with demand currently 1 200MW higher than anticipated, have forced an increase in loadshedding level from 2 to stage 4 from 13:00 this afternoon until 22:00 tonight. Stage 4 loadshedding will again be implemented from 08:00 until 22:00 on Sunday.
Eskom currently has 3805MW on planned maintenance, while another 16050MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
This story is unfolding and will be updated once more information becomes available from Eskom.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
