Eskom moves to stage 2 load shedding – here is the schedule

Eskom has announced that it will introduce stage 2 load shedding on Wednesday (2 February), due to ongoing power constraints.

Following further breakdowns during the night, load shedding will begin at 11h00 on Wednesday until 05h00 on Monday (7 February).

“This load shedding is necessary due to a shortage of generation capacity following breakdowns of two more generating units during the night.

“Since the weekend Eskom has utilised significant amounts of emergency generating reserves, which have now been depleted and need to be replenished. Eskom will use this period to replenish the emergency generation reserves,” it said.

Total breakdowns amount to 14,99wMW while planned maintenance is 4,435MW of capacity. The group said it will communicate further if there are any significant changes to the power system.

#POWERALERT1

Following further breakdowns during the night, Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented starting at 11:00 on Wednesday until 05:00 on Monday pic.twitter.com/BM6PLebuQs

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) February 2, 2022

Eskom has warned in a summer load shedding forecast for 2021/2022, that its system is likely to remain severely constrained for the near future.

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: Eskom warns of load shedding at short notice – power system under severe pressure