Is there another load shedding weekend special on the way? Minister gives outlook

Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is optimistic that load shedding will be kept at bay for the next few weeks.

While many South Africans thought rolling blackouts were a thing of the past when Eskom went 10 months without load shedding it returned in January this year at stage 3.

It has come back several times since, all over a weekend.

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Load shedding: better days ahead?

Speaking at a briefing at the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Gauteng on Saturday, Ramokgopa addressed the power crisis.

He said recent the load-shedding was mainly due to human error, which caused units to fail, and also a large maintenance schedule.

He said planned maintenance would be reduced starting in April and shared his confidence that the grid was now under control.

“Maintenance will move down from 7 900MW to 3 000MW. What that means is you will have additional generating capacity. The key is to stabilise the units.”

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Winter lights

Ramokgopa said that with more units coming online, there may be lights this winter.

“I am confident. The outlook looks brighter. It looks like a great run of no load shedding ahead.

“There is a positive outlook this week and into winter. We are heading in the right direction,” he added.

Analysts weigh in

Energy expert Chris Yelland previously told The Citizen the fight against load shedding was not over but Eskom was on the right track.

“They now need to focus on what we call the balance of plants. The problem is that they were focusing on the generators and they now need to focus on balancing the main generational plants.

“The minister indicated that they will be focusing on that, as well. My advice is that they must prioritise the most important things and remain focused because we are on the right track. They must not give up.”

Expert Ruse Moleshe said Eskom typically does most of the maintenance in summer, reducing available power.

“As long as there is no significant reserve the risk remains. It is a relief that what went wrong relates to the balance of plants, not the main turbines and generators,” he said of a recent load shedding spell.

Additional reporting by Masoka Dube