Eskom’s Weekend Power Plan: What You Need to Know

Eskom’s got a plan for the weekend, and here’s the gist of it.

Rolling Power Changes Ahead Power fluctuation is on the horizon, as Eskom reveals its intention to hop between stage 1 and stage 3 load shedding over the upcoming weekend.

Mark your calendars, folks:

• Friday, 18 August
  Up to 16h00: Stage 1
  16h00 onwards: Shift to Stage 3
• Saturday, 19 August
  Night till 05h00: Stage 3
  05h00-16h00: Dial down to Stage 1
  Post 16h00: Back up to Stage 3
• Sunday, 20 August
  Start till 05h00: Stage 3
  Morning to 16h00: Stage 1
  Thereafter: Remain at Stage 3

Planning for the Future Though current shedding levels remain on the lower side, there’s talk in the wind about a potential for stage 16 load shedding. Quite a leap, right?

But before you jump the gun, the National energy regulator, Nersa, is merely looking to shake things up a bit. They recently unveiled a proposal, inviting public views, to modify the method for calculating load shedding. The new angle? Focus on the percentage of demand shed rather than just counting MWs.

And as intense as stage 16 sounds, representing an 80% demand reduction, industry experts have their doubts. Vally Padayachee, the head honcho at the National Rationalised Specifications Association of South Africa, weighed in, saying that South Africa reaching such extreme power cut levels is a far-fetched scenario.

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