- Eskom has announced its loadshedding schedule for the first three days of the week.
- While Monday will see the highest level at Stage 3, Eskom expects the loadshedding to ease from Tuesday.
- Expect Stages 1 and 2 for the rest of the week as Eskom enjoys a period of higher generation capacity, for now.
While the weekend saw a short break from rolling power cuts, as expected Eskom has announced the return of loadshedding for the first three days of this week. So far it seems the highest level of blackouts that South Africans should expect is Stage 3, according to this week’s loadshedding schedule.
Eskom has been managing lighter levels of loadshedding as of late, with the utility stating that it is seeing heightened generating capacity out of its power stations.
This week will begin with three different stages on Monday, which will start at Stage 1 until 05:00 when Stage 2 will come into effect. Then from 16:00 Stage 3 will be implemented to curb the evening demand.
Stage 3 will last until Tuesday morning at 05:00 whereafter Stage 1 will take place until 16:00, when Stage 2 comes into effect. This same pattern of Stage 1 from 05:00 until 16:00 and Stage 2 from 16:00 until 05:00 will continue from Tuesday, according to Eskom’s latest loadshedding schedule announcement.
The utility says that breakdowns at its power stations have increased to 15 777MW of generating capacity, while a further 6 122MW are out of service due to planned maintenance.
Eskom’s latest update once again shows how unstable its fleet is. As soon as it manages to return three generating units, at the Duvha, Kendal and Kriel power stations, over the weekend, three other units were taken offline at the Kendal, Kriel and Majuba stations.
It is also facing delays in returning generating units at Duvha, Hendrina, Kriel, Majuba, Medupi, and Tutuka power stations.
“We thank all South Africans for continuing to use electricity sparingly to help alleviate the pressure on the power system,” says Eskom.
Recent weeks have seen an improvement to South Africa’s energy grid, albeit one without any promises of maintenance. On 17th March Eskom announced that six of its coal-fired power stations were running at 70 percent energy availability for the first time since May 2022.
Last month’s declaration of a state of disaster over the ongoing power crisis has also allowed the utility to steadily increase generation, in turn sacrificing its environmental pledges.
Earlier this month Eskom was allowed to forgo its sulphur dioxide emission limits at its Kusile power station as an emergency exemption. While this means that it can generate more electricity, it also means that more poisonous gases are discharged into the local atmosphere.
