Johannesburg - Embattled power utility Eskom said on Thursday that power cuts of up to 4 000
megawatts (MW) would last until Friday, as it was waiting for
regulatory approval to reconnect a unit at nuclear power station
Koeberg.
Earlier it had said cuts could last until further notice.
Eskom, which produces more than 90% of the electricity in
Africa's most industrialised economy, ramped up power cuts to
4 000 MW on Tuesday after a fault with a pump at Koeberg, the
country's only nuclear station.
That compounded breakdowns at the company's coal fleet,
which accounts for the bulk of its 44 000 MW nominal capacity.
Eskom has repeatedly implemented nationwide power cuts in
the past year that have dented economic growth and hurt business
sentiment.
Manufacturing data later on Thursday is expected
to reflect the impact of the power outages.
Eskom hopes to bring Koeberg Unit 1 back to service by
Sunday, which should reduce the scale of the outages.