Cape power cuts continue
2005-11-25 10:23
Cape Town - What Eskom called a "rolling blackout" continued in the Western and parts of the Eastern Cape on Friday after the shutdown of Koeberg nuclear power station on Wednesday evening.
Eskom spokesperson Trish da Silva said the utility was asking consumers in those areas to switch off geysers and air conditioners to lessen the load on transmission lines.
She said Koeberg - which shut down when an irregularity in a safety backup system was detected - planned to come back on line on Friday, but she did not know when this would happen.
Though electricity was being drawn from elsewhere in the country, it did not meet demand, and the rolling blackouts that began on Thursday were continuing.
She said this involved deliberately cutting the supply to particular areas for about an hour at a time in order not to overload the system.
The blocks were on a "predetermined list", and Eskom was trying to use radio stations to give people who lived there at least half an hour's notice.
They included areas of the Cape Town metro.
- SAPA