Eskom warns of higher stages of load shedding this weekend
Power utility Eskom has urged all South Africans to reduce their electricity demand ahead of colder weather in the coming days.
The group issued an alert saying that it anticipates a drop in temperatures this weekend, and warned that if electricity demand is not managed, higher stages of load shedding may have to be implemented.
“Due to the anticipated drop in temperatures this weekend, we appeal to all members of the public to assist in reducing the electricity demand by switching off non-essential appliances, mainly geysers and swimming pool pumps.
“This will assist in alleviating pressure on the system and ensure that we avoid higher stages of load shedding,” it said.
The group has been load shedding at elevated levels this week, starting at stage 5 on Monday before dropping to stage 4 for the rest of the week. It managed to decrease load shedding to stage 3 on Saturday (29 July).
However, colder weather in the country pushes up demand significantly as was seen when a cold snap in early July forced the utility back into stage 6 load shedding for an extended period.
For Eskom to keep load shedding low, it needs to keep its unplanned outages below 15,000MW, while demand needs to be kept below 30,000MW.
At last reporting, Eskom was seeing peak demand at almost 33,000MW, while unplanned outages have been between 16,000MW and 18,000MW.
Load shedding continues to do massive damage to South Africa’s economy.
The South African Reserve Bank estimates that South Africa’s economic growth this year and over the next two would have been closer to 2% had it not been for frequent power cuts, according to Governor Lesetja Kganyago.
The central bank is forecasting growth of 0.4% this year, and expects it to average about 1% over the next two years.
Although load shedding “entered the South African lexicon 15 years ago, it has intensified over the past two years, placing a binding constraint on growth,” Kganyago said Friday at a meeting of the central bank’s shareholders.
The SARB estimates that load shedding robs the economy of between R230 million and R900 million a day at stage 3 to stage 6.
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 brings South Africa’s R55 billion wine industry to its knees
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