Stage 3 load shedding until further notice as Eskom loses more units
After extending stage 3 load shedding for Thursday, Eskom has announced that it will be extended yet again – this time indefinitely.
Due to the failure of 2 units at Kendal Power Station and a unit each at Kriel and Arnot power stations, Stage 3 load shedding has been extended from 05h00 today until further notice, it said.
Previously, stage 3 load shedding was due to be suspended at 05h00, only to kick in again at 16h00 until 05h00 on Friday morning.
The group said it would provide more details later in the day.
South Africans are entering their 143rd day of load shedding in 2022, making it the worst year on record. Its ageing fleet is unreliable, and units are breaking down and being taken offline with alarming regularity.
Analysts and Eskom itself have warned that things are going to get worse before they get better, with Eskom COO saying that load shedding will be a part of South African life for at least 18 months while new energy builds are implemented.
Intellidex analyst Peter Attard Montalto, meanwhile, has said that South Africans need to be realistic about the energy situation and expect higher stages of load shedding in the near term.
Eskom’s own load shedding forecast through to August 2023 paints a bleak picture for South Africa’s power situation, noting that it has to keep unplanned outages below 13,000MW to avoid load shedding. It has struggled to keep breakdowns below 16,000MW.
In scenarios where breakdowns exceed 16,000MW, the utility plans for near-permanent stage 3 and stage 4 load shedding, with excessive use of diesel generators to balance the demand. But even this scenario isn’t the full picture, as Eskom is effectively capped – through physical limitations – regarding how much diesel it can actually use.
Due to the failure of 2 units at Kendal Power Station and a unit each at Kriel and Arnot power stations, Stage 3 loadshedding has been extended from 05:00 today until further notice.
A full statement will be published during the day.
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 20, 2022
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: Some South Africans get an extra hour of load shedding – here’s why
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