Eskom suspends load shedding for the whole long weekend

Power utility Eskom says that load shedding will be suspended for most of the long weekend.

The group said that due to the sustained improved performance of generation availability as well as the anticipated lower demand over the long weekend, load shedding will be suspended from 05h00 on Saturday and outages will only resume again on Tuesday (26 September).

Stage 2 load shedding will still be implemented from 16h00 on Friday to 05h00 on Saturday.

Stage 1 will kick in from 05h00 on Tuesday.

Friday, 22 September

• Suspended: until 16h00
• Stage 2: 16h00 to 00h00

Saturday, 23 September

• Stage 2: 00h00 to 05h00
• Suspended: 05h00 to 00h00

Sunday, 24 September

• Suspended

Monday, 25 September

• Suspended

Tuesday, 26 September

• Suspended: 00h00 to 05h00
• Stage 1: 05h00 onwards

“During the long weekend, Eskom will address minor defects on some generating units by performing planned maintenance. Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate any changes to load shedding should it be required,” it said.

Eskom warned that demand is being closely monitored and urged South Africans to be conginsant of their energy usage to ensure that load shedding is not required.

Eskom’s load forecast for the evening peak demand is 27,406MW.

“We appeal to the members of the public to continue reducing demand by switching off non-essential appliances,” it said.

Other constraints are also still present.

Breakdowns are currently at 14,364MW of generating capacity while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 5,731MW.

Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit each at Arnot and Kendal power stations was taken offline for repairs.

The anticipated return to service of a generating unit at Kendal Power Station has been delayed, further contributing to the current capacity constraints.

Eskom has changed tack this week by adjusting load shedding on the fly – stepping away from previous strategies of announcing and sticking to a recurring schedule.

With this in mind, South Africans are cautioned that load shedding changes may occur at short notice.

If Eskom managed to keep load shedding at bay for the full long weekend, however, it will be the first time since March 2023 that the country experiences a solid 24 hours of uninterrupted power.

It would also be the first time since September 2022 that the country sees consecutive days of power.

Read: New load shedding stages for South Africa about to take a step closer to reality