• Stage 5 loadshedding will be in effect from 16:00 today.
• Eskom anticipates being able to shift to Stage 1 on Sunday, but just during the day.
• While this is good news, talk of Stage 8 as winter gets worse has us stopping short of celebrating.

The weekend will bring with it more hours of electricity according to the latest schedule published by Eskom.

The utility announced that it hopes to shift to Stage 5 loadshedding this afternoon at 16:00. Truth be told, there isn’t all that much difference between Stage 5 and Stage 6, but we’ll take what we can get.

Eskom will shift to Stage 4 loadshedding at 05:00 on Friday morning before shifting back to Stage 5 at 16:00.

The rest of the weekend looks to be more hopeful with Saturday seeing a reduction to Stage 3 from 05:00 to 16:00 and then shifting to Stage 4 from 16:00 to 05:00 on Sunday morning.

Thereafter Eskom anticipates lowering loadshedding to Stage 1 from 05:00 to 16:00 before once again moving to Stage 4 loadshedding until midnight on Sunday.

As of Thursday afternoon breakdowns amount to 16 369MW and planned maintenance means 3 369MW is unavailable. This is the lowest breakdowns have been for weeks and while it’s hopeful, only one generating unit at Matla Power Station has returned to service.

“In the same period, another generation unit at Matla Power Station was taken out of service due to breakdowns. In addition, the delay in returning units to service at Camden, Hendrina, Kendal, Matla and two generating units at Tutuka Power Stations continue to add to the current capacity constraints. The team is working tirelessly to ensure that generating units are returned to service as soon as possible,” wrote the utility.

This news comes after Eskom interim group chief executive officer Calib Cassim this morning warned South Africans that Stage 8 (three four-hour blocks per day) was possible should demand increase over winter.

While Eskom hopes that South Africans will help use electricity sparingly, with temperatures reaching -2 Celsius in some areas, electricity usage is sure to spike as the Southern Hemisphere shifts further away from the Sun.

[Image – Possessed Photography on Unsplash]