(Bloomberg) -- Blackouts in South Africa will continue through the weekend as the state power utility replenishes water and diesel used for generation, and there’s a “high risk” of outages next week.
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. on Saturday said it reduced power to the grid for a third consecutive day. The company will continue to cut 2,000 megawatts from the system until Sunday “as a result of a shortage of generation capacity due to plant breakdowns and the need to manage our diesel and water resources,” it said in an earlier statement.
Diesel is used to run turbines usually reserved for peak-demand periods. Pumped storage facilities store water at elevation to power turbines, but need time to replenish.
Rotational power cuts, known as load-shedding, are conducted to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout.
“The system outlook for next week further indicates a high risk that up to Stage 2 load-shedding may be implemented until the middle of next week,” Eskom said.
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