Here’s why you woke up to power this morning, and when load shedding will return

Eskom continues to offer slight relief to South Africa, suspending load shedding on Thursday until 4pm.

The power utility announced the suspension from 2:30 in the morning. Stage 3 will kick in at 4pm until 5am on Friday, with the next stage to be announced later.

Eskom said the change came because of improved generation capacity and a reduced level of breakdowns.

It’s too hot!

But don’t celebrate just yet. Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has previously warned that hot weather may soon lead to more load shedding.

READ MORE: Here’s which parliamentary committee the electricity minister will report to

According to Ramokgopa, units are not supplying enough power because they are losing megawatts to the hot weather conditions.

“We know when we enter summer it could be a function of ambient temperature. The hotter it gets, it’s very difficult for some of these units to perform, and Matimba is a prime candidate for partial load losses that are likely going to increase in the more extreme hot periods.

“But it’s something that is receiving attention to ensure that we don’t fall foul of such a situation. A lot of engineering solutions will be required.”

The cost of load shedding

Just last week SA battled stage 6 load shedding, sparking fears of stage 7 being implemented.

READ MORE: So Eskom, how is the reliability maintenance coming along?

Ramokgopa said stage 6 load shedding cost the economy R1 billion a day when implemented.

“The Minister of Finance (Enoch Godongwana) makes the point that one of the structural constraints to the South African economy is load shedding, so clearly the economy won’t recover. 

“It is going to continue to push people into conditions of abject poverty, out of employment and the economy will continue to threaten the social wage,” said the minister.