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Load shedding rollercoaster: Eskom shifts to stage 3
Eskom apologises for the uncertainty.
Photo: iStock
Eskom announced it will shift from stage 4 to stage 3 load shedding from 8am until 10pm on Thursday, 10 June 2021.
Load shedding stage 3
‘Slight improvement’
After 14 hours of power cuts, it will revert to stage 2 as previously communicated. The shift comes after a “slight improvement in generation performance” on Wednesday.
“These emergency reserves are required to respond to emergencies in order to maintain the stability of the grid”.
However, Eskom also reports breakdowns at the Kusile, Matla, and Tutuka power stations. The embattled power utility explains:
“Regretfully, this means Eskom has to implement stage 3 load shedding from 8am until 10pm on Thursday to continue replenishing the emergency generation reserves, which have been depleted.”
Breakdowns and uncertainty
As per the power utility, breakdowns “currently total 13 995MW of capacity, while planned maintenance is 1 273MW of capacity”.
Eskom apologises for the “inconvenience and uncertainty” but warns that it will continue for the foreseeable future.
Now read: Eskom ‘has sneakily gone to stage 6 load shedding’
Loadshedding will be increased to Stage 3 from 08:00 until 22:00 on Thursday, after which it will
revert to Stage 2 as previously communicated pic.twitter.com/1KTj9nGAC1— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) June 9, 2021
Staying warm during load shedding
You might want to refrain from reaching for a warm cuppa – hot caffeinated drinks cause blood vessels to restrict and limits blood flow.
This, in turn, lowers your body’s temperature. According to the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory director at Cornell University, Alan Hedge, the ideal winter drink is a glass of warm milk.
“The Mongols drank fresh, warm mare’s milk, which gave them the ability to have a sustained, warm, high-caloric diet that kept them warm”.
If you have an electric blanket, set it to low half an hour before the power is scheduled to go out. For added warmth, place your pyjamas under the electric blanket before settling in for the night.
Taking a hot bath is one way to heat up, but don’t drain the water immediately. Instead of letting all that heat go down the drain, leave the water in the bath until it reaches room temperature.
Not only will your home be a bit warmer, but it will also help to humidify the space. If that doesn’t work, get moving. Go for a walk or a run, do yoga, stretch or dance, anything to get the blood flowing.
