Load shedding pushed higher for Friday – here’s the new schedule
Power utility Eskom says that higher demand has forced it to push load shedding higher on Friday.
Stage 4 load shedding will be implemented from 10h00 on Friday and will continue until 05h00 on Saturday.
Load shedding was previously scheduled at stage 2 for the day.
Here’s the updated schedule:
Friday, 21 July
- Stage 4: 10h00 to 00h00
Saturday, 22 July
- Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 2: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
The weekend schedule is subject to change, with Eskom saying it will publish an update as soon as it is required.
The group warned earlier this week that load shedding was likely to escalate as demand ticked higher and its reserves depleted heading into the weekend.
The escalation is likely due to colder weather that is setting in around the country amid another cold front.
Data from independent energy analyst Pieter Jordaan shows that the power utility continues to operate on a ‘razor thin’ reserve, with any breakdown or bump in operations threatening to push outages higher.
While the group has managed to improve generating capacity slightly over the past month or so, much of South Africa’s load shedding relief has been delivered thanks to a drop in user demand.
This changed last week, however, when a bitter cold snap pushed energy demand to the levels projected by Eskom at the start of winter, when it warned that higher stages of load shedding were highly likely.
This resulted in stage 6 load shedding being implemented for an extended period.
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: Load shedding warning as another cold front hits South Africa
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