Cape power cuts to continue
2006-02-20 09:39
Cape Town - Power cuts will continue in parts of the Western Cape on Monday as Eskom conducts controlled "load shedding" to prevent another blackout in the region.
"Basically we will manage the available capacity, by switching off towns and communities in certain areas. If we don't do that we will sit with a blackout situation," said Eone de Villiers of Eskom.
She said "load shedding" took place when electricity demand was greater than supply. Supply is constrained because the Koeberg nuclear power station was not producing any electricity.
Eskom commenced load shedding for two-hour periods from 06:30 to 22:30 on Monday.
Affected areas range across the length and breadth of the province, from Kwaggaskloof to Nyanga, to Hermanus and Citrusdal.
De Villiers warned customers to treat all electrical installations as live for the full duration of the interruption.
Eskom needed to shed 70 Megawatts every two hours.
Over the weekend a series of province-wide power cuts crippled households and businesses.
Eskom blamed faults on transmission lines, triggered by misty conditions and residual pollution from recent fires, for Sunday's power failure.
Eskom's Fani Zulu said that Sunday's power failure was not related to problems at Koeberg nuclear power station, which caused a power cut on Saturday.
The nuclear power station has not been operating optimally since December, when one of two reactors was damaged by a loose nut.
- SAPA