Load shedding reprieve to continue until further notice – Eskom

South Africa will continue to be free from power cuts after Eskom announced that load shedding will remain suspended until further notice.

The country has not experienced any load shedding stages for 18 consecutive days – the longest stretch so far in 2024.

Most power cuts this year were at Stage 1 and 2, showing a shift from the more severe outages of the previous year.

Load shedding suspension

According to Eskom, the suspension of the rolling blackouts was due to the sustained availability of generation capacity and emergency reserves at its power stations.

Additionally, a total of 2 150 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity has been anticipated to be restored by Monday.

“Eskom will provide an update on Wednesday afternoon or promptly communicate any significant changes should they occur,” the power utility briefly said in a statement on Sunday.

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Currently, unplanned outages stand at 12 850 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity.

At the same time, the capacity out of service for planned maintenance stood at 7 368 MW.

“Tonight’s evening peak demand is 25 886 MW,” Eskom added.

Eskom planned maintenance

Earlier this week, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the noticeable decrease in the intensity and frequency of load shedding across South Africa to planned maintenance.

This has signalled progress in energy stability as the winter season edges closer.

Ramokgopa hinted that Eskom plans to leverage the extra capacity generated from wind energy to mitigate the impact of load shedding, starting in May.

READ MORE: Electricity minister claims reduced load shedding expected in winter

“In winter, when the cold front passes through the Western and Eastern Cape, the wind generation increases significantly, so we are going to see a greater contribution from wind energy during those months,” he said.

The minister disclosed that while the winter plan was still underway, Eskom anticipates allocating R30 billion for diesel procurement for the current financial year.

He added that in the next five months, the country would see over 2 500 MW of new generation coming on line.

EAF negatively impacted

Furthermore, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa revealed, in a parliamentary response published last week, that Eskom’s decision to intensify planned maintenance negatively impacted energy availability factor (EAF), which stands at 52%.

However, this would improve plant reliability over the long term.

“The highest level of planned maintenance was performed between December 2023 and January 2024, reaching an average of 18% of the generation capacity. The downside of increased maintenance was a negative impact on EAF.

“However, the deliberate spike in planned maintenance aims to improve the reliability of the generation fleet, deliver long-term benefits, and ensure the security of the energy supply,” the minister’s reply reads.

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