Eskom ramps up load shedding for the week – Here’s your schedule

Eskom has ramped up load shedding for the week as it battles a number of issues to keep the lights on.

Following the daytime suspension of load shedding over the weekend, Eskom said that it will implement stage 2 load shedding from 5am on Monday until further notice.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said the parastatal is dealing with broken generating units. She also mentioned the need for planned maintenance, which contributed to the current load shedding schedule.

Schedule

“Due to the loss of two generating units over the past 24 hours and the increase of planned maintenance as part of Eskom’s plan to improve its generation fleet reliability, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 05:00 on Monday until further notice. Eskom will closely monitor the power system and provide an update should any significant changes occur.”

Mokwena said unplanned outages account for 14 641MW of generating capacity, while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance increased to 7 850MW.

“Eskom Power Station General Managers and their teams are working diligently to ensure that additional generating capacity is recovered by bringing units on unplanned outages and planned maintenance back to service as soon as possible.

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“A total of 3 830MW of generating capacity is anticipated to return to service by Wednesday. Eskom’s evening peak demand last night was 24 701MW,” Mokwena said.

Usage

Mokwena has urged South Africans to use electricity sparingly.

“We would like to thank those who heed the call to use electricity efficiently, including switching off geysers and pool pumps from 17:00 to 21:00 or during load limiting. This lowers demand and helps alleviate the pressure on the power system, contributing to lower stages of load shedding,” Mokwena said.

Grid performance

Last week, Minister of Electricity Kgosietsho Ramokgopa, speaking about the grid performance and load shedding during a media briefing, said if planned maintenance was reduced by between 25-50% from September 2023 to February 2024, load shedding could have been completely averted.

“However, this would have left the system vulnerable and weaker going into the winter period and beyond.”

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Ramokgopa said he’s confident about the prospects going into the future, which include the reduction of the intensity and regularity of load shedding with long-term plans in place.