Maria Modiba cooks by a candlelight during one of the frequent power outages from South African utility Eskom, caused by its aging coal-fired plants, in Soweto, South Africa November 11, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 31 (Reuters) – South African businesses and households will experience scheduled power cuts for the first time in 10 months due to a series of breakdowns at state power utility Eskom’s coal-fired power stations, officials said on Friday.

Energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told reporters that Eskom would implement “Stage 3” power cuts.

The outages will require up to 3,000 megawatts (MW) to be shed from the grid, starting from 1700 (1500 GMT) on Friday.

The utility’s power cuts, known locally as loadshedding, have curbed South Africa’s economic growth for more than a decade.

But there had been no blackouts since March last year after a dramatic turnaround in Eskom’s electricity supply, leading to over 300 days without outages.

(Reporting by Tannur Anders, Sfundo Parakozov and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning)

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