Eskom issued a warning on Thursday morning that it might be forced to implement load-shedding at short notice.

The power utility has requested the public to reduce electricity usage as its generation system was under severe pressure due to several breakdowns.

Eskom said the outages would require increased use of emergency generation reserves.

“Total breakdowns amount to 14,925MW while planned maintenance is 4,759MW of capacity,” Eskom said.

“Should there be any further breakdowns, Eskom might be forced to implement load-shedding at short notice.

The utility said while it expected some generating units to return to service from breakdowns in the next few days, it urged the public to reduce usage and continue to use electricity sparingly to assist in avoiding load-shedding.

“Eskom will communicate promptly should there be any significant changes to the power system,” the utility said.

#PowerAlert1

Eskom urges the public to reduce usage of electricity as the system is under pressure due to a number of generating unit breakdowns@News24 @SABCNews @Newzroom405 @eNCA @IOL @ewnupdates @SundayTimesZA @SowetanLIVE @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/D4YeUyYSM6

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 7, 2021

Eskom last implemented load-shedding on 22 July 2021, when stage 2 was required due to a shortage of generation capacity and high demand because of cold weather.

Its last warning that load-shedding might be implemented at short notice was on 19 August 2021.

Eskom recently told MyBroadband that it anticipated the risk of load-shedding would be lower from September 2021.

That was despite the loss of a 720MW generating unit at Medupi due to an explosion in August and damage to a generator transformer of one unit at Kendal Power Station, which is only set to return to service in November.

Nevertheless, the utility emphasised that it would still need additional generation capacity to eliminate load-shedding completely.

When last did you have load-shedding in your area?