THERE is a low likelihood of a total blackout, or collapse of the power system, Eskom said on Wednesday.

The power utility provided a system update as Stage 4 load shedding persists.

Planned outages were at 5 787 MW, with unplanned outages at 15 147 MW, an improvement from about 15 600 MW on Tuesday.

There is a possibility that load shedding will be reduced to Stage 3 on Thursday, said CEO André De Ruyter, during the virtual briefing from Duvha power station.

He said teams were “working hard” to bring units back online. Eskom expects to return six units to service on Wednesday. Three are already online.

Eskom lost units at Majuba and Arnot on Wednesday morning.

However the power utility made progress in replenishing diesel reserves at Ankerlig power station – to 76,7 percent from 67 percent previously. – fin24.com