Eskom pushes stage 4 load shedding into the weekend – and warns of ‘erratic’ changes ahead
Power utility Eskom has warned that load shedding stages will be erratic in the coming days as the group has lost its buffer of diesel generation that usually helps keep things relatively stable.
The group said that stage 4 load shedding will persist until further notice.
“The higher stage of load shedding is mainly due to the high level of breakdowns and the depleted emergency generation reserves,” the group said.
“Changes in the stages of load shedding will be more erratic due to the absence of the buffer that is normally provided by the diesel generation capacity between generating unit breakdowns. Eskom will publish a further update as soon as there are any significant changes.”
Since Friday morning, a generating unit each at Kendal and Kriel power stations were taken offline for repairs. Delays in returning to service a unit each at Arnot, Grootvlei, Hendrina and Tutuka power stations have contributed to the capacity constraints.
A generating unit each at Camden, Kriel, Tutuka and two units at Majuba power stations were returned to service.
Eskom said it currently has 4,887MW on planned maintenance, while another 15,320MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
South Africans are facing the prospect of increased load shedding at higher levels over the next year as Eskom prepares to pull its most reliable power station offline for critical maintenance in December.
The station’s unit, which produces over 920MW of energy, is only planned to return to service in the middle of 2023.
Meanwhile, Eskom continues to struggle with breakdowns while a number of key units are offline after various critical failures. The group warned this week that over 3,000MW is at risk of remaining offline over the next 12 months.
The utility’s outlook for the next year is bleak.
South Africa’s load shedding outlook for the next year
In its best-case scenario for the country, it envisions only seven days of load shedding in the summer period, but this is only if it is able to keep breakdowns below 13,000MW – something it has been unable to achieve so far – and is allowed to spend billions of rands on diesel – something it simply cannot afford to do.
If breakdowns persist above 16,000MW, as is currently the case, high stages of load shedding can be expected every month.
This year has been the worst year of load shedding on record, and analysts say that 2023 is set to be worse.
Schedules
For people living in the major metros, load shedding schedules are available here:
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: Eskom pushes load shedding to stage 4 indefinitely – check your schedules