Eskom has announced that load shedding will oscillate between Stage 2 and no load shedding until further notice.

This after the power utility faced serious challenges over the past 10 days, with load shedding reaching Stages 5 and 6 – leaving consumers without power for up to four hours per shedding period during the day.

Now, the power utility says consumers will have power between 5am and 4pm during the day, with Stage 2 load shedding kicking in from 4pm to 5am every day.

‘This alternating pattern of suspending load shedding from 5am to 4pm and Stage 2 load shedding from 4pm to 5am will be repeated daily until further notice.

‘While the available generation capacity has been sustained, the need to replenish emergency reserves for the upcoming week necessitates an increase in the stage of load shedding. Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate any changes to load shedding, should it be required,’ the power utility said.

By Sunday afternoon, at least 13 350MW of generating capacity was
unavailable due to breakdowns, with planned maintenance rendering some 8 476MW offline.

‘Eskom Power Station General Managers and their teams continue to work diligently to ensure that additional generating capacity is recovered by bringing units on unplanned outages, and planned maintenance back to service. A total of 3 300MW of generating capacity is anticipated to be returned to service by [today].

‘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 or when the load is limited. This lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system, contributing to lower stages of load shedding,’ Eskom said.

Source: South African Government News Agency