Eskom pushes load shedding higher with immediate effect

·27 Nov 2023

Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will be pushed higher again due to increasing demand, insufficient generating capacity, and the need to manage the emergency reserves.

After announcing that load shedding would be on a stage 3/stage 4 rotation, all-day stage 4 load shedding will now be implemented until at least Saturday, it said.

Stage 4 load shedding will kick in from 14h00 on Monday and continue until 05h00 on Saturday.

“Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate any changes to load shedding should it
be required,” it said.

Unplanned outages have increased slightly from 15,386 MW to 15,424MW of generating capacity, while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance increased from 5,617 MW to 6,280MW.

Eskom’s load forecast for the evening peak demand is 28,123MW.

In the last 24 hours, 500MW of generating capacity was taken offline, whilst in the same period 600MW
were returned to service.

Approximately 1,300MW of generating capacity is anticipated to return to service by Tuesday evening.

The latest escalation in load shedding comes as South Africa passes a bleak record.

According to the latest blackout statistics compiled by independent energy analyst Pieter Jordaan, the country has accumulated over 69.2 days of cumulative blackouts.

This is the average time a South African has spent without electricity in 2023 so far – averaging around 5 hours a day.

In 2022, the country experienced 34.6 days of blackouts. This was already surpassed on 9 May 2023.

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: South Africa just hit a very bleak load shedding record

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