South Africa Power Blackouts Jump to Highest Level in a Year

South Africa’s electricity rationing returned to the highest level for the first time in a year after multiple generating units at the state utility failed, raising questions about the turnaround in the company’s performance.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. implemented Stage 6 power cuts on Sunday, indicating that it will take 6,000 megawatts offline. The company, which started enforcing Stage 3 late Saturday, said it had to cut more electricity after additional coal-fired units failed while it had shut almost 7,000 megawatts of capacity for planned maintenance. The utility last resorted to Stage 6 power cuts on Feb. 10, 2024.