Full-day load shedding hitting all week – here’s the new schedule
Power utility Eskom says that all-day load shedding will continue this week until further notice.
In order to replenish emergency reserves, stage 1 load shedding will be implemented during the day between 05h00 and 16h00, and stage 3 load shedding will continue overnight from 16h00 to 05h00.
This pattern will repeat indefinitely.
Monday, 14 August
- Stage 1: until 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Tuesday, 15 August
- Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Wednesday, 16 August
- Stage 3: 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 1: 05h00 to 16h00
- Stage 3: 16h00 to 00h00
Breakdowns are currently at 16,054MW of generating capacity, while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 3,921MW.
Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit at Camden, Duvha, Kriel and Lethabo power stations was returned to service.
In the same period, a generating unit at Tutuka and two generating units at Kendal power stations were taken offline for repairs.
The delay in returning to service a generating unit at Kendal, Matimba and Tutuka, Power Stations is contributing to the current capacity constraints.
Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said on Sunday that as winter weather dissipates and things get warmer in the country, Eskom will be moving to increase its planned maintenance scheduling. This could result in further constraints on the grid.
However, the minister was also quick to point out that generating capacity is slowly improving, with Eskom now pushing around 29,000MW on the supply side each day.
That said, losses and outages remain a significant issue.
Eskom has been targeting unplanned outages below 15,000MW, but has not reliably been able to hit this target.
“An area that continues to be at albatross is on the partial load losses these are the units that are performing at the right levels although they are giving us the megawatts, are not at the level that is desired, which is currently sitting at 6,226 MW,” he said.
Meanwhile, energy regulator Nersa is moving ahead with the restructuring of load shedding stages in South Africa, making room for 16 stages of load shedding.
The consultation document, which details all 16 stages, can be read below:
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: New load shedding stages for South Africa – this is what happens if we hit stage 16
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