Load shedding changes for the weekend ahead – here’s the new schedule

Eskom will be running load shedding at lower stages this weekend, continue its morning suspensions, but now ramping up to stage 1 during the day.

On Friday, load shedding stage 3 will commence at 16:00 and then be suspended at 00:00.

Load shedding will then return at stage 1 at 05:00 Saturday until 16:00, where stage 4 will commence until midnight.

Saturday’s cycle will then be repeated on Saturday.

• Stage 3: 16h00 to 24h00

• Suspended: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
• Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00

• Suspended: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
• Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00

Eskom said that breakdowns are currently 16,546 MW of generating capacity.

Generating capacity out for planned maintenance is currently at 2,497 MW.

In the last 24 hours, a generating unit each at Kendal and Lethabo and two units at Camden were returned to service.

Over the same period, a generation unit each at Arnot and Malta power stations were taken out of service due to breakdowns.

In addition, there were further delays in returning to service a generating unit at Arnot, Grootvlei and Hendrina power stations, which is a contribution to capacity constraints.

Load shedding has been running at much lower stages this past week, with blackouts suspended between midnight at 16:00.

The turn to suspend load shedding has been driven mainly by improved performance from Eskom’s units, as well as severely reduced planned outages for maintenance.

Energy experts have also attributed the better performance to colder weather which allows the plants to operate more efficiently as well as the continued burning of diesel to keep generation up.

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.

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