Good news for load shedding this week – eased stages until further notice
Power utility Eskom says that it will ease load shedding this week due to a recovery in generation capacity.
Stage 5 load shedding will no longer be implemented, and stage 4 will now continue until further notice, it said.
Load shedding was previously expected to alternate between stage 4 and stage 5 load shedding in the daytime and evening peak, respectively.
However, as has been the case for years, the grid remains in a volatile and unpredictable state, so the load shedding stages and schedules can change at short notice.
Eskom will provide an update as soon as any significant changes occur.
South Africa has experienced the worst levels of load shedding on record. Concerns have been raised that the country is likely to struggle going into the winter months having already experienced record levels of outages since the start of the year – summer months, where demand is relatively lower.
The average stage of load shedding has also been much higher in 2023 compared to any other year, with South Africa mostly being at or above stage 4 since January.
Load shedding has cost companies millions of rands, with groups like Shoprite and MTN reporting over half a billion in losses due to outages. Most companies are being forced to spend millions of rands a month on fuel costs for generators alone.
The outlook, meanwhile, remains unchanged. The government and Eskom have conceded that the energy situation is only likely to improve in 18 to 24 months, giving very little hope that any significant reprieve will be felt in the short-term.
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: There is some hope for load shedding in South Africa: CEO
Loading ...