Load shedding changes for the coming week – here’s the new schedule
Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will be ramped up to stage 3 and stage 4 this week.
Addressing the media on Sunday, Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer said that the current schedule sees load shedding moving up to stage 3 on Sunday, before moving to stage 4 on Monday.
The schedule for the week is as follows:
Sunday, 22 January
- Stage 2: until 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Monday, 23 January
- Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 2: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
Tuesday, 24 January
- Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Wednesday, 25 January
- Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Thursday, 26 January
- Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Friday, 27 January
- Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Because the grid is unpredictable, things can change quickly, but Oberholzer said that with units expected to return during the week, load shedding could be reduced to stage 2 and stage 3 if things go well.
The COO stressed that stage 8 load shedding is not expected.
“While load shedding has been high for an extended period, there is no risk of any higher load shedding at this time,” Oberholzer said, adding that there is no risk of a blackout.
Economists and analysts have warned that the load shedding situation in South Africa is likely to get a lot worse before it gets any better, with higher stages of load shedding likely to hit near the middle of the year.
The key reasoning behind this view is that Eskom’s generating units are incredibly unreliable and break down on a regular basis, and the group cannot pull them down long enough to do maintenance and repairs. The situation is expected to get worse as the middle of the year is winter time in South Africa, when demand is higher.
Addressing this maintenance crisis, Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana said that a level of permanent stage 2 and stage 3 load shedding is expected to be in place for the next two years to give Eskom the room to conduct necessary maintenance.
This will also deliver a relative degree of consistency and stability that South Africans and businesses can plan around.
Makwana called on South Africans at large to assist in the crisis by lowering consumption.
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.
Read: Expect near-permanent load shedding for the next 2 years: Eskom
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