S. Africa’s Eskom Backtracks, Continues With Rolling Blackouts

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s state-owned power company, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., will carry on cutting 2,000 megawatts of electricity from the national grid indefinitely due to the breakdown of five generating units, reversing plans to suspend the outages on New Year’s Eve, the utility said in a text message on Saturday.

Eskom has cut power on a record 205 days this year, with 62 consecutive days of rolling blackouts since Oct. 31, according to Bloomberg calculations. The loadshedding, as it’s known in South Africa, reached 6,000 megawatt outages on a record 15 days in 2022 as the state utility battled with aging power plants, criminal activity, financial losses and political wrangling over its leadership.

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