Easter load shedding forecast
Eskom has released its power forecast for the week, showing that electricity supply will likely keep up with demand over the long Easter weekend.
The group noted that power would remain “severely constrained” on Wednesday, though things would be easier heading into the long weekend.
“We see some relief from Thursday into the weekend with a decent gap between demand and supply,” Eskom said.
“However, the need to use electricity sparingly must become a lifestyle for South Africans as we are running a system with a low reserve margin.”
- Wednesday (01 April): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 33 235 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 31 461 MW.
- Thursday (02 April): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 34 943 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 29 775 MW.
- Friday (03 April): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 34 884 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 27 177 MW.
- Saturday (04 April): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 34 427 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 27 634 MW.
- Sunday (05 April): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 34 071 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast at 27 278 MW.
Eskom supply and demand forecast Easet
Last week, Eskom secretly conducted a nationwide blackout simulation to test how its systems would handle a total loss of power.
The power utility has been forced into rolling blackouts in 2015 following the collapse of one of its coal storage silos, diesel shortages, and maintenance issues.
On Tuesday (31 March) Eskom announced that its chairman Zola Tsotsi has stepped down, and will be replaced by Ben Ngubane as acting chairman.
The company is currently without its chief executive, Tshediso Matona, who along with three other executives, including the financial director, were suspended a week after they had initiated an audit into Eskom’s tender processes, Business Day reported.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has spun Eskom’s inability to keep the lights on as “a positive crisis”, saying that it is a crisis of supply failing to meet demand – showing that the country is actually growing.
“Demand exceeding supply is a crisis, but it is a positive one, but there is a challenge of building more generation capacity,” he said.
More on Eskom
Eskom’s secret total blackout testing
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