The Cape Town loadshedding schedule remains unchanged at the start of Wednesday, 17 May 2023, with outages expected to switch between Stages 3, 4 and 6.
Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Eskom implemented a patterned loadshedding schedule of Stages 4 and 6 rotating between daytime (05:00 – 16:00) and evening peak periods (16:00 – 05:00).
On Tuesday, the embattled power utility released a statement dismissing claims “the country will soon experience a blackout or collapse of the national electricity grid.”
“The risk of a national blackout, while inherent to the operation of a larger power system, has an extremely low likelihood of materialising given the implementation of a number of control measures, including loadshedding,” Eskom explained.
A snapshot of the evening peak on Monday, 15 May 2023, suggests the power utility is nowhere near having enough generation capacity to meet the country’s electricity demand.
Eskom’s available generation on Monday evening totalled 26 203MW against a demand of 33 842MW, the deficit of which was 7 639MW.
On Wednesday, 17 May 2023, Eskom will hope to keep loadshedding at a pattern of Stages 4 and 6, barring no further unforeseen breakdowns.
In Cape Town, however, City clients will be protected from Stage 4 and Stage 6 with reduced loadshedding throughout the day.
Barring no further updates from Megawatt Park, City of Cape Town clients will only experience Stage 6 loadshedding between 20:00 and 05:00 the next day
“We are doing all we can to protect you where possible, but non-stop load-shedding at high stages impacts our ability to protect,” the City wrote.
Here’s a look at the Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Wednesday, 17 May 2023:
| Time | Cape Town | Eskom |
| 05:00 – 16:00 | Stage 3 | Stage 4* |
| 16:00 – 20:00 | Stage 4* | Stage 6* |
| 20:00 – 05:00 | Stage 6* | Stage 6* |
How to check your loadshedding schedule
In Cape Town, loadshedding is implemented rotationally in zones split between 23 areas.
Areas 1 – 16 follow the City of Cape Town’s loadshedding schedule, while Areas 17 – 23 adhere to Eskom’s national outage timetable.
To check the latest outage status, refer to the schedule for the loadshedding stage announced; dates indicated along the top (left to right), with the corresponding affected areas for that day and time slots (from top to bottom).
Here’s how City of Cape Town lowers loadshedding stages
The City of Cape Town has its Steenbras Pumped Storage Plant to thank for the delayed implementation of increased power cuts. The hydro-electric pumped power station is the first of its kind in Africa and in 2019, it was refurbished to provide auxiliary support when needed most.
Currently, the City of Cape Town is the only metro able to provide a semblance of relief to households impacted by loadshedding. Using the hydroelectric pumped power plant, residents connected to the City’s grid experience a lower stage of loadshedding, where possible.
Here’s how the Steenbras Pumped Storage plant works:
- Electricity generated during off-peak periods pumps water to an upper storage reservoir
- The down-flowing water is then used to power a generator
- Small hydro-generators like the one at Steenbras Dam mean that the City can sometimes avoid loadshedding or stay at a lower stage.