Power utility Eskom has urged all South Africans to reduce their electricity demand ahead of colder weather in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group issued an alert saying that it anticipates a drop in temperatures this weekend, and warned that if electricity demand is not managed, higher stages of load shedding may have to be implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Due to the anticipated drop in temperatures this weekend, we appeal to all members of the public to assist in reducing the electricity demand by switching off non-essential appliances, mainly geysers and swimming pool pumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This will assist in alleviating pressure on the system and ensure that we avoid higher stages of load shedding,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group has been load shedding at elevated levels this week, starting at stage 5 on Monday before dropping to stage 4 for the rest of the week. It managed to decrease load shedding to stage 3 on Saturday (29 July).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, colder weather in the country pushes up demand significantly as was seen when a cold snap in early July forced the utility back into stage 6 load shedding for an extended period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At last reporting, Eskom was seeing peak demand at almost 33,000MW, while unplanned outages have been between 16,000MW and 18,000MW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Load shedding continues to do massive damage to South Africa’s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South African Reserve Bank estimates that South Africa\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The central bank is forecasting growth of 0.4% this year, and expects it to average about 1% over the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although load shedding \u201centered the South African lexicon 15 years ago, it has intensified over the past two years, placing a binding constraint on growth,\u201d Kganyago said Friday at a meeting of the central bank\u2019s shareholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SARB estimates that load shedding robs the economy of between R230 million and R900 million a day at stage 3 to stage 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schedules <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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