Load shedding changes for the week ahead – here’s the new schedule
Power utility Eskom says that stage 4 load shedding will remain this week, with an alternating schedule between stages 2 and 4.
Stage 4 load shedding will be implemented from 16h00 on Sunday (30 July) 05h00 on Monday.
Thereafter, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 05h00 until 16h00.
This pattern will be implemented daily until further notice. Eskom will publish another update should any significant changes occur.
The schedule is as follows:
Sunday, 30 July
- Stage 2: until 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 00h00
Monday, 31 July
- Stage 4: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 2: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 4: 16h00 to 05h00
Repeats until further notice
Breakdowns have reduced to 15,798MW of generating capacity, while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 3,099MW.
Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit each at Grootvlei, Kendal, Kriel, Majuba and Medupi power stations were returned to service.
The delay in returning to service a generating unit at Kendal and two generating units at Tutuka power stations is contributing to the current capacity constraints.
The power utility issued an alert earlier on Sunday calling on South Africans to try and control their energy use in a bid to stave off higher stages of load shedding.
This is due to much colder weather that has hit many parts of the country.
Colder weather usually brings much higher demand as households seek heat, which can lead to higher stages of load shedding as Eskom still cannot generate enough power to meet it.
For Eskom to keep load shedding low, it needs to keep its unplanned outages below 15,000MW, while demand needs to be kept below 30,000MW.
At last reporting, Eskom was seeing peak demand at almost 33,000MW, while unplanned outages have been between 16,000MW and 18,000MW.
Load shedding continues to do massive damage to South Africa’s economy.
The South African Reserve Bank estimates that South Africa’s economic growth this year and over the next two would have been closer to 2% had it not been for frequent power cuts, according to Governor Lesetja Kganyago.
The central bank is forecasting growth of 0.4% this year, and expects it to average about 1% over the next two years.
Although load shedding “entered the South African lexicon 15 years ago, it has intensified over the past two years, placing a binding constraint on growth,” Kganyago said Friday at a meeting of the central bank’s shareholders.
The SARB estimates that load shedding robs the economy of between R230 million and R900 million a day at stage 3 to stage 6.
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: Load shedding brings South Africa’s R55 billion wine industry to its knees
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