Eskom suspends load shedding from Saturday

Eskom has announced that load shedding will be suspended at 5am on Saturday morning.

The suspension of load shedding comes after almost a month of deliberate power cuts at different stages.

Lower demand

The ailing parastatal said that while there are still generation capacity constraints, the suspension of load shedding is possible due to the anticipated lower weekend demand, as well as adequate levels of emergency generation reserves.

ALSO READ: Load shedding: ‘I am gatvol and so are 60 million other South Africans’.

Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said Eskom will publish another update on Sunday afternoon, or as soon as there are any significant changes.

Generating units

“Since yesterday afternoon, a generation unit each at Camden, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Kendal, Kriel, Majuba and Tutuka power stations have returned to service. A generating unit at Duvha Power Station was taken offline for repairs,” Mantshantsha said.

“We currently have 5 512MW on planned maintenance, while another 13 484MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”

January only load shedding free month

Meanwhile, the suspension of the power cuts comes as a relief for South Africans after Load Shedding Tracker by Outlier showed that January had been the only month free of load shedding in 2022.

The Outlier graphic revealed that South Africa had so far experienced more than 116 days of rolling blackouts, which is almost a third of the year.

Summer plan

So far, Eskom’s own worst-case scenario is its summer plan. This was echoed by the ailing parastatal’s Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer in September. He said load shedding is likely to be implemented during summer months.

“We are ramping up planned maintenance as we head into summer. We also find that our maintenance is not yet yielding required results. Units return to work, and then break down. This is due to lack of skills,” he said.

ALSO READ: Infographic: January only load shedding free month in 2022