Eskom suspends load shedding for Women’s Day – Here’s your schedule

Eskom has announced it will suspend load shedding during the day from Wednesday due to an improvement in available generation capacity.

This as the country celebrates Women’s Day on Wednesday, 9 August.

However, stage 3 of the rolling blackouts will be back from 4pm until 5am on Thursday.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said various stages of load shedding will then be implemented until Sunday.

Breakdowns

Mokwena said Eskom will publish another update should any significant changes occur.

“Breakdowns are currently at 15 420MW of generating capacity while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 3 841MW.

“Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit at Arnot, Camden, and Lethabo power stations was returned to service. In the same period, a generating unit at Kriel and Tutuka power stations was taken offline for repairs,” Mokwena said.

ALSO READ: ‘Load shedding an unwelcome occurrence, all of us suffering’ – Ramokgopa

Reduce demand

Mokwena added the delay in returning to service two generating units at Kendal and a generating unit at Tutuka power stations is contributing to the current capacity constraints.

“Eskom teams are working tirelessly to return these generating units to service.”

Eskom has appealed to members of the public to continue reducing demand by switching off non-essential appliances.

“We would like to thank those who do heed the call to use electricity sparingly and efficiently, including switching off geysers and pool pumps from 5pm to 9pm, as this lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system and contributes to lower stages of load shedding,” it said.

Government taking action

Meanwhile, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said government is taking action to address the electricity crisis as well as finding long-term solutions to eliminate the rolling blackouts.

Ramokgopa updated the public on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan (EAP) saying excessive energy consumption by government buildings at night had been identified as a contributing factor to the power cuts.

ALSO READ: Government buildings biggest load shedding culprit, says Ramokgopa