All-day stage 6 load shedding continues into the week
Power utility Eskom says that stage 6 load shedding will continue into the new week as generation capacity remains critically low.
The group is currently in the process of returning unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station back to service, which it said should be synchronised to the grid by the morning peak on Monday (17 April).
The unit went down over the weekend, taking almost 1,000MW offline.
“The cause of the trip was due to problems with the feedwater pumps on the secondary circuit. The reactor has been taken critical and reactor power is being increased to enable turbine commissioning,” it said.
“The unit is expected to safely synchronise to the grid before morning peak tomorrow once all the required activities are completed.”
Breakdowns are currently at 17,481MW of generating capacity while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 5,657MW.
Over the past 24 hours a generation unit each at Duvha and Medupi power stations were returned to service.
In the same period, two generating units at Kriel, as well as one unit at Koeberg power stations were taken offline for repairs.
The delays in returning a unit to service at Kendal, Kriel, Medupi and Tutuka power stations have contributed to the capacity constraints.
Persistent stage 6 load shedding has set alarm bells ringing for South Africa’s approaching winter months when demand is expected to increase.
Energy experts say that the utility is struggling to meet the lower summer demand now, so things are only going to get worse as the weather gets colder.
According to the electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, South Africa’s supply and demand profile is typically 27,000MW/32,000MW during the summer months – and this is likely to jump to 27,000MW/37,000MW in winter, leaving a 10,000MW shortfall.
Without a significant improvement in generation – or just as big a cut in demand – the country could thus be subject to stage 10 load shedding.
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: Stage 8 load shedding hits as South Africa runs out of time
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