Eskom Announces Load Shedding Reduction Due to Lower Demand

South Africans will breathe a sigh of relief after Eskom announced it intends to reduce load shedding this weekend due to lower demand. Load shedding, which is the controlled power cuts implemented by power utility Eskom to avoid a total shut down of the power system, have been a significant problem for the country. The previous weekend’s timetable was unable to be met, but the current plan targets stage 3 load shedding on Saturday and stage 4 on Sunday.

Key Points

• Although Eskom has cautioned that the schedule may change at short notice, the current plan targets to maintain stage 6 load shedding until 05h00 on Saturday.
• Eskom has scheduled a scaling down to stage 3 on Saturday, escalating back to stage 5. On Sunday, the schedule plans to move from stage 5 to stage 4 and back to stage 6.
• Eskom will publish another update as soon as any significant changes occur.

The planned schedule is as follows:

Friday, 12 May

Stage 6: until 00h00

Saturday, 13 May

Stage 6: 00h00 to 05h00
Stage 3: 05h00 to 16h00
Stage 5: 16h00 to 00h00

Sunday, 14 May

Stage 5: 00h00 to 05h00
Stage 4: 05h00 to 16h00
Stage 6: 16h00 to 00h00

Monday, 15 May

Stage 6: 00h00 to 05h00
Stage 4: 05h00 to 16h00
Stage 5: 16h00 to 00h00

Eskom Outages Overview

The current capacity constraints have reportedly been caused by 18.713MW of generating capacity breakdowns, and 3,222MW of generating capacity being out of service for planned maintenance.
In the last 24 hours, a generating unit each at Hendrina, Kriel, and Lethabo power stations have returned to service. Still, a generation unit each at Kendal, Kriel, Medupi, and Tutuka power stations were taken out of service due to breakdowns. The delay in returning units to service at Arnot, Kendal, and Matla power stations continues to add to the current capacity constraints.

Eskom’s assurance is that the company’s team is working around the clock to ensure that generating units are returned to service as soon as possible. The country continues to keep a close watch on the situation and is hoping for a permanent solution to end the load shedding problem soon.