Persistent Stage 4 Load Shedding This Week: Here’s the Updated Schedule

Eskom, South Africa’s power utility, has notified its customers that the ongoing strain on the national grid will require the continuation of stage 4 load shedding throughout the current week.

Daytime Downgrade

In a slight concession, Eskom revealed that the daytime demand, when traditionally lower, will only necessitate stage 2 load shedding. This downgrade will be in effect until 14h00 on Sunday, after which the shedding will escalate back to stage 4.

Shedding Dynamics

Come Monday, the load shedding will temporarily ease to stage 3 from 05h00 until 16h00, only to climb back to stage 4 thereafter. By Tuesday, Eskom anticipates that the daytime load shedding will be further reduced to stage 2.

Load Shedding Schedule

The detailed schedule is as follows:

• Sunday, 23 July: Stage 4 from 14h00 to 00h00
• Monday, 24 July: Stage 4 from 00h00 to 05h00, Stage 3 from 05h00 to 16h00, and Stage 4 from 16h00 to 00h00
• Tuesday, 25 July to Wednesday, 26 July: Stage 4 from 00h00 to 05h00, Stage 2 from 05h00 to 16h00, and Stage 4 from 16h00 to 00h00

The Power Generation Struggle

Struggling with breakdowns amounting to 16,943MW of generating capacity and a planned maintenance volume of 3,761MW, Eskom continues to face an uphill battle in managing power supply.

Despite returning a generating unit at both the Camden and Matla power stations to service over the past 24 hours, further units at the Duvha, Grootvlei, Kriel, and Matla stations have been taken offline for repairs. The delay in restoring a generating unit at Kendal and two units at Tutuka power stations is further exacerbating the existing capacity constraints.