Eskom’s Weekend Power Forecast: Mixing Stage 1 and Stage 3 Load shedding

South Africa’s primary electricity provider, Eskom, has confirmed a slight alleviation in the load-shedding schedule for the upcoming weekend. The public utility announced a mix of stage 1 and stage 3 rotations.

The Revised Timetable

The shift towards reduced peak-time load-shedding is a result of lower demand, enabling Eskom to implement stage 1 load-shedding until 16:00 on Friday. Thereafter, the load-shedding escalates to stage 3 until 05:00 on Saturday morning. The cycle of daytime stage 1 load-shedding (05:00-16:00) and stage 3 during evenings and early mornings (16:00-05:00) will persist indefinitely.

Take note, however, Eskom tends to revise its load-shedding timetable on Sunday afternoons, preparing for the surge in demand typical of business days.

Eskom’s Power Stations: A Breakdown

As it stands, 15,901MW of Eskom’s generating capacity remains unavailable due to power station breakdowns. Additionally, a further 4,014MW is offline, undergoing scheduled maintenance.

Within the past 24 hours, Eskom successfully reinstated one generating unit at the Camden Power Station. In contrast, a generating unit at Matla, and two at Camden and Kriel power stations have been sidelined for repairs.

Moreover, delays in resuming operations at a generating unit at Kendal and two units at Tutuka are exacerbating capacity constraints. It appears these units have been nonoperational for approximately a month. As of 28 June 2023, Tutuka had one unit out of service, increasing to two by the first week of July.

In light of these circumstances, Eskom is appealing to the public to decrease demand by switching off non-essential appliances.