Stage 2 load shedding to continue till Sunday

Eskom announced on Friday that load shedding will be eased over the weekend.

Stage 3 load shedding had been in place in the evenings since Wednesday, but the power utility says this is no longer necessary due to an improvement in generation capacity.

“Due to the return to service of a generation unit and the reduction of partial load losses, which resulted in an improvement in generation capacity, stage 2 load shedding (instead of stage 3 load shedding as previously communicated) will continue to be implemented until 05:00 on Sunday, 21 January 2024. Thereafter, stage 1 load shedding will be implemented from 05:00 until 16:00 on Sunday. A further update will be provided on Sunday afternoon,” the utility announced in a statement.

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Eskom said it will monitor the power system and alert South Africans to any changes.

“Unplanned outages reduced to 13 792MW of generating capacity, while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance slightly increased to 8 484MW.

“Eskom Power Station General Managers and their teams will continue to work diligently to ensure that the 2 150MW of generating capacity is returned to service by Sunday evening.”

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Eskom reminded South Africans to use electricity sparingly.

“We would like to thank those who do heed the call to use electricity sparingly and efficiently, including switching off geysers and pool pumps from 17:00 to 21:00, as this lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system and contributes to lower stages of load shedding.”

On Wednesday, Eskom ramped up the load shedding due to maintenance and the breakdown of generation units.

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“In spite of the return to service of 3 200 MW [megawatts] of generation capacity in the last 48 hours, the need to continue to do planned maintenance and the setback of losing four generating units, necessitates the implementation of Stage 3 load shedding from 4pm today until 5am on Thursday,” it said at the time.