South Africa’s Eskom Says System Volatile as Blackouts Stop

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s debt-laden power utility ended controlled blackouts on Saturday as power supplies improve, though it says shortages gripping Africa’s most industrialized economy may not be over yet.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which provides about 95% of South Africa’s electricity, said it wouldn’t be implementing load shedding, a local term for rolling power blackouts, on Sunday. That comes after almost a week of debilitating power cuts that have emerged as one of the biggest threats to the nation’s economic growth prospects. While the rolling blackouts won’t be implemented Sunday, the power supply system remains vulnerable, the utility said.

“The power system is constrained and while we are making every effort to avoid load shedding, it could be implemented at short notice should there be a significant shift in plant performance and increased unplanned technical breakdowns,” Eskom said in a statement.

The utility expects additional electricity generation units to resume operations. Repairs at Medupi, one of the power stations, are still underway. It has replenished diesel reserves for open-cycle gas turbines and increased water levels at pumped storage schemes, which may enable it to “avoid or minimize the extent of load shedding.“

Eskom will conduct a further review of the grid Sunday evening to determine if the rolling blackouts will continue in the coming week, it said.

READ: South Africans Aren’t Only Ones in Dark as Eskom Rescue Awaited

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