Eskom has a difficult week ahead, with demand for power expected to outstrip supply.

That means load shedding is a strong possibility.

Eskom’s routine state of the system bulletin predicts that demand will be greater than the available generating power during the evening peak on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Those calculations include using the expensive diesel-power stations.

Monday night’s peak demand is predicted as 30 388MW, against capacity of only 29 291MW.

“The situation is expected to remain similar on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The power system remains constrained this week, and will remain so for the rest of this summer,” said Eskom, calling on customers to cut electricity usage.

Eskom has about a quarter of the generating capacity offline this week, mostly due to breakdowns.

The Star