• Having started out the week rotating between Stages 1 and 2 loadshedding, Eskom has announced higher levels for the rest of the week.
• The increase in loadshedding comes as generating capacity to a handful of power stations has been lost.
• At the time of writing, Eskom has not detailed what the weekend will hold in terms of the loadshedding schedule.

This week started out fairly well when it comes to loadshedding, with Eskom rotating between Stages 1 and 2 for the morning and evening sessions.

Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly, this has come to an end, with the power utility issuing an alert on Twitter earlier today confirming that the loadshedding level will be raised for the rest of the week.

To that end, Stage 2, which is currently in effect, will last until 05:00 tomorrow morning. Thereafter, Stage 3 will be implemented until 16:00 on Thursday afternoon, with Stage 4 being in place until 05:00 on Friday morning. This rotation will continue until Saturday morning, which is when Eskom hopes to have Stage 2 loadshedding back in effect.

We say hope as it is unclear whether the cause for the current escalation will have been addressed.

Speaking of which, the reason for the increase in blackouts is a loss in generating capacity as a result of some units needing to be repaired.

In its power alert, Eskom says “breakdowns have reduced to 15 089MW of generating capacity,” adding that, units at Lethabo, Kendal, and Kriel power stations were taken offline for repairs. There are also delays in the return of units at Medupi, Hendrina, and Tutuka.

As always, we’ll need to wait for further updates on the situation as South Africans begin yet another month with loadshedding looming large overhead. To stay up to date on all loadshedding announcements, it is best to download the EskomSePush app.

[Image – Photo by Taylor Friehl on Unsplash]