UPDATE: No load-shedding planned for Sunday

“While Eskom is making every effort to limit load-shedding, it could be implemented at short notice should there be a significant shift in plant performance and increased unplanned technical breakdowns.”

Eskom said even though some units returned to service as planned, emergency diesel and water reserves had to be used today, to supplement capacity, as generating units returned later than expected.

Plans are progressing well to repair the conveyor belt at Medupi Power Station to achieve full operation, and to expedite the return of units that experienced technical problems.

Eskom has also advised that South Africans should help take some load off the system with the heat wave in parts of the country, and to use their air conditioners at 23 degrees Celsius, which is more efficient.

UPDATE: Your load-shedding schedule for Saturday, 19 October

MBOMBELA – Stage 1 load-shedding will be implemented today, from 09:00 until 23:00.

“The electricity system remains under severe pressure with several generation units being out of service,” Eskom said in a statement.

These areas will be affected in Mbombela:

Nelsriver (1) 09:00 – 11:30

Rocky Drift (3) 13:00 – 15:30

UPDATE: “Major setback” leads to load-shedding stage 2 on Friday, October 18

Since the media briefing last night, Eskom has had a major setback as they have lost additional capacity from Medupi Power Station.

“As articulated, our prognosis was based on the state of the system and availability as at 17:00. Late last night, we lost Medupi 3, 4 and 5 due to coal and ash handling issues. This is in addition to the conveyor belt that failed on Saturday at the power station. This means that the power system has deteriorated further creating an additional shortage of about 1 500MW generation capacity. As a result we will regrettably maintain Stage 2 load-shedding for the greater part of today,” it said in a statement.

“We understand the negative impact this will have on our customers, in particular our matriculants who are writing exams this morning. In order to lessen the disruption on exams, Stage 1 load-shedding will be implemented from 09:00 until 12:00 midday and thereafter we will revert to stage 2 load-shedding until 23:00.

We apologise unreservedly to our customers and South Africans for the short notification. We will keep South Africans informed about the status and our recovery efforts throughout this period.

Here is the schedule for Mbombela, Friday

Delta (10).

1. 11:00-13:30

Delta (10), West Acres and Matsafeni/i’

langa area (14)
19:00-21:30

 

 

 

October 17:  Load-shedding to continue on Thursday

Earlier yesterday morning we advised South Africans that the electricity system had become so severely constrained that it necessitated the implementation of stage 2 rotational load-shedding. Eskom last night said that it is still experiencing severe generation capacity challenges and, as a result, will continue load-shedding.

“We understand the inconvenience that comes with load-shedding and want to assure our customers and South Africans at large that our objective is not to implement load-shedding; if necessary, to do so at minimal levels and with as much predictability as possible,” Eskom acting group chief executive, Jabu Mabuza said.

“As indicated in an earlier statement, load-shedding is being implemented as a measure of last resort, as unplanned breakdowns are currently above 10 500 MW, impacting our ability to meet the current demand. We wish to assure South Africans that we continue to double our efforts in order to restore secure energy supply. The Eskom Emergency Command Centre has been activated and the recovery is now in progress. Some generating units have already returned to service and we are expecting more units to return to service over the next few days. Contingency measures have been put in place to manually feed coal to Medupi whilst we look into a permanent solution to the coal conveyor belt failure at the station. We have started receiving additional diesel supplies from the major oil service providers and as such we are comfortable that we can build the necessary diesel and water reserves to acceptable levels over the weekend.

“In order to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout and having taken into account all the recovery efforts currently being implemented, our prognosis for today (Thursday) is that stage two rotational load-shedding will be implemented from 09:00 to 23:00. This requires that a total of 2000 MW be load-shed throughout the country. We are hopeful that the early warning will assist businesses, including the Department of Education to plan accordingly and to minimize individual risk,” said Mabuza.

Here is today’s schedule for Mbombela Local Municipality

“Eskom regrets and sincerely apologises to our customers and South Africans, particularly to our matriculants, for the inconvenience. We will keep South Africans informed about the status and our recovery efforts throughout this period.

We continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly throughout the day:
• Set air-conditioners’ average temperature at 23ºC
• Switch of your geysers over peak periods
• Use the cold water tap rather than using the geyser every time
• Set your swimming pool pump cycle to run twice a day, three hours at a time for optimal energy use.

 

October 16
15:00 – Here is the load-shedding schedule for Wednesday

 

11:30 – UPDATE: Eskom gives clarity on the reason behind the load-shedding

 

Eskom would like to inform South Africans and all its customers that the electricity system has been severely constrained this week. As a result of the loss of additional generation, delays in the return to service of units that are on planned maintenance and limited diesel supply, it has become necessary to implement stage two rotational load-shedding from 09:00 until 23:00 in order to protect the power system from a total collapse.

In the system status briefing on September 4 Eskom warned that in order to avoid load-shedding, unplanned breakdowns needed to be contained at below 9 500MW. In the event generator breakdowns are experienced beyond 10 500MW, there will be high usage of emergency resources (diesel and pumped storage generators), which may lead to load-shedding if supply constraints are sustained for a long duration.

Read it here: Eskom shares its summer plan to keep the lights on

The severe supply constraint being experienced has come about due to high levels of unplanned breakdowns that have exceeded the 10 500MW limit. The supply constraint is caused by, among others, five generating units that are unavailable due to boiler tube leaks. In addition, a conveyor belt supplying Medupi Power Station with coal failed on October 12, resulting in low volumes of coal being supplied to the power station thus limiting the generating capability to approximately half the station output.

Due to the shortage of generating capacity from coal-fired generation, the pumped storage and OCGT generators have been used extensively since October 12 which has led to a decline in the dam levels and diesel tank levels.

We unreservedly apologise to South Africans for the negative impact this may have on them and want to assure the nation that we continue to work tirelessly to ensure security of energy supply.

To assist us in these efforts, we appeal to customers to continue to use electricity sparingly throughout the day:
• Set air-conditioners’ average temperature at 23 degrees Celsius
• Switch off your geysers over peak periods
• Use the cold water tap rather than using the geyser every time
• Set your swimming pool pump cycle to run twice a day, three hours at a time for optimal energy use.
• At the end of the day, turn off computers, copiers, printers and fax machines at the switch. Avoid stand-by or sleep mode.

 

We will keep customers informed if there are any further changes to the power system.

 

 

 

09: 30 – Eskom earlier today declared a power system emergency.

Stage two load shedding will be implemented from 09:00 to 23:00 today (Wednesday) due to a “shortage of capacity”, the energy utility confirmed.

According to well known resident, Thea Rix,  load-shedding stage two and load curtailment stage one and two will be implemented to stabilise the system.

Curtailment is the action of reducing or restricting power.

According to their official Twitter account, a statement with more details will be made available at a later stage. It has alerted the public that load-shedding has returned.

#PowerAlert Due to a shortage of capacity stage 2 loadshedding is to be implemented from 9 am to 11pm today. Media statement with more details to follow @CityPowerJhb @City_Ekurhuleni @CityTshwane @CityofJoburgZA @CityofCT @ewnupdates @SABCNewsOnline @IOL @eNCA @SAgovnews

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 16, 2019

The following information:

West Acres will have no power between 11:00 and 13:30 and White River from 15:00 to 17:30. More information will be published as soon as it becomes available.

In September, Eskom said that no load-shedding was implemented during the winter period, and while no load-shedding is expected over summer, the risk remains as the system is still tight and vulnerable.

Also read: Eskom shares its summer plan to keep the lights on