Stage 2 load shedding hits South Africa

Eskom has announced that stage 2 load shedding will be implemented on Friday (10 July) as the country’s power system comes under increased change.
The power utility said that the power cuts will be introduced from 12h00 to 22h00.
The group said that two units at the Arnot station, as well as a unit each at Kendal, Tutuka and Majuba were taken off the grid, removing more than 2,600MW of capacity.
It said that the delayed return to service of a generation unit at the Duvha power station, has also added significant pressure to the system.
Breakdowns have now exceeded 3,000MW, the power utility said.
Eskom to implement Stage 2 loadshedding starting at 12:00 as breakdowns increase@News24 @eNCA pic.twitter.com/aYcyv3Tfvb
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 10, 2020
Winter load shedding
In June, Eskom chief executive officer Andre de Ruyter said that the coronavirus lockdown has led to a direct decline in electricity usage in the country.
However, De Ruyter stressed that Eskom’s systems are still unpredictable.
“It is important to recognise that due to the unreliability and unpredictability of the system, the risk of load shedding remains,” he said.
“This will be the reality until after the 18 months of reliability maintenance, which will last until August 2021.”
Eskom said that the current outlook is three days of stage 1 (1,000 MW) load shedding during the month of July where the demand is forecast to be approximately 33,600 MW should the power utility be in a position to limit the unplanned breakdowns and system losses to below 11,000 MW.
This is based on an 80% probability, it said. The group added that stage 1 and 2 load shedding in winter is expected to have less of an impact on the economy than summer load shedding because:
- It will likely only be required during the evening peak (usually 17h00 – 20h00);
- Load shedding schedules are staggered which means that customers are not impacted on consecutive days;
- Large industrial customers are unlikely to be impacted.