--- title: "Breakdown of eight generation units plunges South Africa into Stage 6 blackouts" description: "At 8:34am on Friday, 16 December, the country was pushed to Stage 6 power cuts after several generation units failed overnight and as diesel reserves ran low." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "POWER CRISIS" author: "Victoria O’Regan" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/victoria-oregan-3-2-2/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-16-breakdown-of-eight-generation-units-plunges-south-africa-into-stage-6-blackouts/" published: "2022-12-16T13:59:19" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 598 --- # Breakdown of eight generation units plunges South Africa into Stage 6 blackouts > At 8:34am on Friday, 16 December, the country was pushed to Stage 6 power cuts after several generation units failed overnight and as diesel reserves ran low. By Victoria O’Regan · Published 16 December 2022, 15:59 SAST ## Content South Africans woke up to advanced blackouts on Friday morning after Eskom escalated nationwide power cuts to Stage 6 for the fifth time this year. The move to [rolling blackouts at Stage 6](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-09-how-to-beat-the-new-normal-of-stage-6-load-shedding-and-enjoy-your-festive-season/), the power utility said, was due to the breakdown of eight generation units overnight, which had necessitated the excessive use of its open cycle gas turbines (OCGT) and pumped storage generation. “The inability to pump water overnight at the pumped storage schemes and the low diesel levels has resulted in critically low emergency reserves which need to be conserved,” Eskom said on Friday. In addition to Stage 6 rolling blackouts — which has been implemented until further notice — Eskom on Wednesday [announced](https://www.eskom.co.za/resignation-of-eskom-group-chief-executive/) the resignation of its chief executive officer, André de Ruyter, who will leave at the end of March 2023. *Read in*Daily Maverick:[*André de Ruyter had a year from hell – and then he lost his political cover*](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-14-andre-de-ruyters-year-from-hell-and-then-he-lost-his-political-cover/) > [#POWERALERT1](https://twitter.com/hashtag/POWERALERT1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > As previously communicated, loadshedding has been increased to Stage 6 from 08:30 this morning until further notice [pic.twitter.com/V78CnWR9G5](https://t.co/V78CnWR9G5) > > — Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom\_SA) [December 16, 2022](https://twitter.com/Eskom_SA/status/1603677882944987136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) Rolling blackouts were reduced to Stage 4 at 5am on Thursday morning and were scheduled to remain on this level until 5am on Sunday — after which it was set to lower to Stage 3. However, Eskom’s power stations suffered further breakdowns on Thursday, necessitating the use of its emergency generation fleet. --- **Visit [*Daily Maverick's* home page](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=in_article_link&utm_campaign=homepage) for more news, analysis and investigations** --- Eskom [ran out of money to acquire diesel](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-11-15-brace-for-another-six-to-12-months-of-rolling-blackouts-warns-eskom/) to run its OCGTs in October, which has forced the power utility to strictly preserve its remaining diesel reserves for “extreme emergency situations” such as multiple generator failures. This combination of Eskom depleting its diesel budget and constant breakdowns is one of the reasons behind the escalation of rolling blackout stages. *Read in*Daily Maverick:[*Power station breakdowns and less money to buy diesel force Eskom to escalate rolling blackouts to Stage 6*](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-07-power-station-breakdowns-and-less-money-to-buy-diesel-force-eskom-to-escalate-rolling-blackouts-to-stage-6/) “Since Thursday afternoon, breakdowns of a unit each at Duvha, Grootvlei, Tutuka, Kriel, Lethabo \[and\] Camden power stations occurred, as well as two units at Kendal Power Station. “In addition, the delay in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Duvha, Matla, Camden and Hendrina power stations has contributed to the capacity constraints,” said Eskom. No units were returned to service in the past 24 hours, Eskom said. The power utility currently has 8,023MW out on planned maintenance, while another 16,672MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns. The City of Cape Town, which has generally experienced less severe power cuts because of the [Steenbras hydroelectric scheme](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-30-how-the-city-of-cape-town-managed-to-avoid-stage-6-load-shedding-thanks-to-hydroelectric-scheme/), is currently experiencing Stage 5 blackouts from 5am to 10pm, and Stage 6 blackouts from 10pm to 5am. > Load-shedding update - 16 December > > Eskom has just implemented Stage 6 load-shedding. > > City customers > 16 December > Stage 5: now - 22:00 > Stage 6: 22:00 - 05:00 > > 17 December > Stage 5: 05:00 - 22:00 > Stage 6: 22:00 - 05:00 > > 18 December > Stage 6: 05:00 - 05:00[#CTInfo](https://twitter.com/hashtag/CTInfo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)[pic.twitter.com/qpKt6VA4Z5](https://t.co/qpKt6VA4Z5) > > — City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) [December 16, 2022](https://twitter.com/CityofCT/status/1603653072009543680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) On Monday, Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse [made an urgent plea](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-12-joburg-mayor-pleads-for-rolling-blackout-reprieve-as-one-third-of-city-grid-collapses/) to Eskom to grant the city a three-day reprieve from rolling blackouts to address the challenges of escalating faults and outages post-torrential rain in Gauteng. Eskom eventually responded on Thursday, granting city residents in areas hardest hit by the recent bout of floods, a three-day exemption from rolling backouts. **DM** > \[STATEMENT\] Flood Response: Multi-Party Government welcomes Eskom’s assistance in the repair and rebuild of Joburg. [pic.twitter.com/NLVBZgmZzZ](https://t.co/NLVBZgmZzZ) > > — Executive Mayor Mpho Phalatse (@mphophalatse1) [December 15, 2022](https://twitter.com/mphophalatse1/status/1603360042455015425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)