Eskom warns of stage 2 load shedding at short notice on Wednesday
Power utility Eskom has warned that it might have to implement load shedding at short notice on Wednesday (10 August), due to losses in generating capacity.
If forced to implement rolling blackouts, the utility said it will be at stage 2, between 16h00 and 00h00.
The warning comes as Eskom experienced breakdowns at the Majuba, Tutuka and Kriel power stations, which have put a severe strain on the power generation system.
“The delay in returning two generation units at Arnot, a unit each at Kusile and Hendrina power stations has exacerbated the electricity generation constraints,” it said.
The latest warning follows load shedding being implemented up to stage 4 last week. Before that, South Africans experiences an 11-day reprieve after weeks of high levels of load shedding in June and July.
The period pushed president Cyril Ramaphosa to take drastic action and implement an energy crisis plan, which will see the government reduce red tape and fast-track new energy capacity builds to bolster the country’s energy sources.
At the start of the month, the president’s Energy Crisis Committee laid out a plan that will see the country add as much as 1,950MW of power to the grid over the next three months. However, analysts have stressed that this is not enough to cover Eskom’s immediate shortfall of 6,000MW.
Load shedding will remain a fixture in South Africa until this energy gap is closed.
Due to a shortage of generation capacity, Stage 2 loadshedding might be required at short notice
during the evening at 16:00 – 24:00 tonight pic.twitter.com/qdCEXuEJVZ— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) August 10, 2022
Schedules
For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:
- City of Johannesburg
- City of Ekurhuleni
- City of Tshwane
- City of Cape Town (PDF)
- Nelson Mandela Bay
- eThekwini
- Manguang
- Buffalo City
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.
Loading ...