Government

Stage 16 load shedding – South Africans get to have their say

Staff Writer

 ·29 Sep 2023

Energy regulator Nersa is inviting the South African public and other stakeholders to voice their views on the new load shedding stages for the country in November.

The public hearings are the next step in processing the document that will ultimately go on to be the new governing rules for load shedding in the country.

Nersa published the consultation document on the restructuring of load shedding on 11 August, and the window for written comments closed on 22 September.

Public hearings will now be held on digital platforms on 2 November 2023, with access given only to those who register their interest to attend.

Anyone who wants to comment or present their views on the new load shedding schedules will have to register their interest before 16h30 on 27 October

This can be done through Mr Walter Mabunda at the following contact details:

• Telephone Number: 012 401 4600
• Fax Number: 012 401 4771
• Email Address: [email protected]

Once finalised, the new rules will ultimately be known as the NRS 048-9 Code of Practice Edition 3.

The NRS 048-9 Code of Practice is primarily an electricity utility-driven and executed document that derives its mandate and authority, once approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), as part of the Electricity Regulations Act.

When the first edition of the NRS048-9 code was established in 2010, load shedding stages were capped at Stage 4 – representing 25% of the base load – requiring utilities to “find” electricity load under emergency conditions.

The important changes

The key change in the document comes in extending load shedding stages to stage 16 – but the structure of the new stages may be unfamiliar to what most South Africans have become accustomed to.

At present, most South Africans understand each stage of load shedding to reflect 1,000MW of power that is removed from the grid.

However, under the proposed structure, this is rather expressed as the percentage of demand assumed by the System Operator at the time the stage is called. The percentages range from 5% of demand at stage 1 to 80% at stage 16.

While these percentages are in-line with the current Code of Practice, the percentages in the code being used now refer to a percentage “reduction in load profile of the national non-curtailment load” – not specifically demand.

The consultation paper also makes no mention of specific ranges (ie, +/- 1,000MW) as is the case in the standing code – although this may change in the final document.

“The specific reduction in load required to stabilize the system under a national supply constraint will be dictated by the power system conditions that prevail at the time,” Nersa said.

The proposed schedules also include the structure for customers who are part of the load curtailment programme.

The proposed stages are as follows:

According to the document, the responsibility for keeping the national electricity grid stable lies with the National Control Centre (NCC).

“If the NCC requires additional load reduction, utilities may assume this is in the best interest of the grid. The System Operator will undertake to understand, via network studies, the impact and management of the grid under lightly loaded conditions caused by high – above stage 8 – stages of load shedding,” it said.

The full consultation paper can be found here.

Read: Why Tuesday is the worst day for load shedding in South Africa