South African state utility Eskom implemented a second day of electricity cuts on Friday citing as power plant breakdown for the cut. The company said in Johannesburg it would cut 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from the national grid on a rotational basis probably until 2100 GMT.
Eskom supplies more than 90 per cent of South Africa’s power but has suffered repeated faults at its coal-fired power stations and is laden with 420 billion rand ($29 billion) of debt.
On Thursday it cut the same amount of power, saying around 12,000 MW of its roughly 45,000 MW generating capacity was offline because of unplanned outages, including at faulty new mega plant Kusile.
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Eskom’s problems are a big challenge for President Cyril Ramaphosa as they are stymieing efforts to haul the economy out of a slump before a national election in May.
Ramaphosa’s government has promised to inject 23 billion rand a year over the next three years to shore up Eskom’s finances.
Ramaphosa has also asked a team of experts to come up with a plan to fix Eskom’s creaking coal plants. (NAN)