The load shedding schedule for the week has already changed – here’s what to expect

Power utility Eskom has already had to change its planned schedule for the week following two units breaking down at its power stations.

The group had initially intended on moving to stage 2 load shedding on Monday and then stage 1 during the day for the rest of the week – however, these plans have changed.

Instead, stage 3 load shedding will now continue during the day on Monday before moving to stage 4 in the evening. A further update will be provided later in the day.

“Two generating units at Tutuka Power Station were shut down during the night, while the return to service of an Arnot Power Station unit has been delayed, further reducing available capacity,” Eskom said.

Monday’s schedule looks like this:

Monday, 23 January

• Stage 3: until 16h00
• Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00

Tuesday, 24 January

• Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
• Further stages to be announced

The rapid changes show the continued volatility of the grid, making planning around load shedding incredibly difficult.

During a media briefing on Sunday (22 January), Eskom chief operating officer Jan Oberlholzer warned that the grid is highly unpredictable and that load shedding stages can change very quickly.

The COO stressed that stage 8 load shedding is not expected.

“While load shedding has been high for an extended period, there is no risk of any higher load shedding at this time,” Oberholzer said, adding that there is no risk of a blackout.

Economists and analysts have warned that the load shedding situation in South Africa is likely to get a lot worse before it gets any better, with higher stages of load shedding likely to hit near the middle of the year.

The key reasoning behind this view is that Eskom’s generating units are incredibly unreliable and break down on a regular basis, and the group cannot pull them down long enough to do maintenance and repairs. The situation is expected to get worse as the middle of the year is wintertime in South Africa, when demand is higher.

Addressing this maintenance crisis, Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana said that a level of permanent stage 2 and stage 3 load shedding is expected to be in place for the next two years to give Eskom the room to conduct necessary maintenance.

This would deliver a relative degree of consistency and stability that South Africans and businesses can plan around. However, outgoing Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that the company would not be able to guarantee that load shedding would be kept to those stages.

South Africa has experienced near-permanent load shedding since September 2022 and has been in the grips of high-stage rolling blackouts every day of 2023 so far.

Makwana called on South Africans at large to assist in the crisis by lowering consumption.

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: Expect near-permanent load shedding for the next 2 years: Eskom