According to Eskom’s spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe, the recent spout of power outages experienced late last year will persist this year, however in shorter intervals. Phasiwe said Eskom will use a system of rotational load shedding that will allow patterns to decrease down to shorter time frames.
The practice of rotational load shedding will occur over different regions, reducing power usage and avoiding total blackouts. He said each suburb will experience patterns of load shedding for as little as two hours at a time.
These shorter intervals will safeguard surrounding suburbs and ensure that they have a sufficient amount of power. Phasiwe said once the scheduled load shedding has occurred in a particular suburb, it will be rolled out into a neighbouring suburb. This he said will benefit residents by bringing down the load shedding time frames further, allowing the equal distribution of load shedding in each area.
Eskom is currently in the process of building three multi-billion rand power stations, which are scheduled to be active from 2019 onwards. In the interim, Phasiwe does however suggest residents check their planned load shedding schedules available on the Eskom website. He assures residents that Eskom is working to curb the problem as they are currently in the process of reawakening a dormant power station that was used in the 80s as a contingency plan until the three power stations currently under construction are completed.
Details: www.eskom.co.za
