• Eskom has provided a power alert this afternoon, confirming that Stage 3 loadshedding will be in effect until further notice.
• The power utility had previously communicated that Stage 4 would be implemented at 16:00 today.
• The creation of “sufficient emergency reserves” has resulted in the slightly lower level of loadshedding.

After a tough few days of Stage 6 loadshedding, South Africans are set to receive a slight reprieve as Eskom confirmed via a power alert on X (formerly Twitter) that Stage 3 will be implemented from 16:00 this afternoon.

The power utility had previously communicated that Stage 4 would be implemented at 16:00 today, with the frequency of blackouts expected to come down from Wednesday this week.

While the reprieve is welcome, the fact that loadshedding worsened so badly after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) where he said that the “worst was behind us” does not invoke much confidence, especially in an election year.

As for why Stage 3 loadshedding is set to come into effect, Eskom explains that it has been able to gradually return generating units back to service, while also noting that it has “sufficient emergency reserves” in place. How long those will last when called upon, however, remains to be seen.

“Our Power Station Managers will continue to work around the clock to return more generating units to service and improve the available capacity. Evening peak demand for tonight is 26 701MW. Eskom will communicate should any significant changes occur,” the power alert ended.

With several suburbs in Gauteng set to introduce load limiting, it will be interesting to see what impact if any this will have on loadshedding across the country, as well as the energy demand, particularly as the country transitions out of the peak of summer and into winter, when demand usually rises.

As a reminder, the Johannesburg suburbs of Buccleuch, Kelvin, Paulshof, Marlboro, Sunninghill, and Waterfall will be added to the load limiting project, as Midrand serves as a testbed for Eskom’s plans.

“The initiative focuses on select customers with smart meters, as these have the technical functionality to be controlled remotely,” the power utility explained.

“The power utility urges all its customers with compatible meters, where load limiting will be implemented, to support the initiative, which ensures that they continue to have electricity for the duration of load shedding,” Eskom called for.

[Image – Photo by Carlos Torres on Unsplash]