South Africa’s Eskom Deepens Power Cuts to Unprecedented Level
- State utility takes 7,000 megawatts off grid for first time
- Less than half of utility’s generation capacity available
An Eskom office during load-shedding in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Photographer: -/AFP/Getty Images
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South Africa is experiencing an unprecedented level of power blackouts.
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. cut 7,045 megawatts from the grid — a move to prevent a total shutdown of the national grid — spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha said in a Tweet on Tuesday. He confirmed that the intensity of power cuts increased to the so-called Stage 7 of loadshedding, as the practice is known locally. The utility earlier had only indicated it was implementing Stage 6, where it removes a corresponding 6,000 megawatts.