Eskom published the loadshedding schedule for the weekend starting on Friday, 14 July 2023, which forecasts permanent Stage 6 outages.
UPDATE: On Sunday, 16 July 2023, Eskom downgraded loadshedding for the evening period to Stage 4. See the updated schedule below.
Weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 14 July 202
On Thursday, 13 July 2023, Eskom revealed in a statement that due to a mixture of unplanned breakdowns at several power plants as well as increased demand due to inclement weather, Stage 6 loadshedding will remain in place for the entire weekend, from 05:00 on Friday, 14 July 2023.
The power utility admitted to miscalculating the week’s demand and, therefore, due to several reasons compounded by frosty conditions in South Africa, had depleted its energy reserves by Tuesday, 11 July 2023.
“Unfortunately, due to the failure of additional generation units since Sunday, the reserves have been depleted and can no longer buffer the lingering effects of the cold weather and make up for the lost generation capacity,” Eskom explained.
Therefore, Eskom clients will be placed on a permanent Stage 6 loadshedding schedule starting from 05:00 on Friday.
Here’s a look at the weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 14 July 2023:
| Date | Morning Peak (05:00 – 16:00) | Evening Peak (16:00 – 05:00) |
| Friday 14 July 2023 | Stage 6* | Stage 6* |
| Saturday 15 July 2023 | Stage 6* | Stage 6* |
| Sunday 16 July 2023 | Stage 6* | Stage 4* |
Update on breakdowns and available capacity
On Thursday, Eskom reported more than 17 679MW of generation capacity lost to breakdowns, with an additional 3 090MW offline due to several units placed out of commission for planned maintenance.
Since Sunday, 9 July 2023, Eskom’s generation fleet lost a generation unit at Grootvlei, Hendrina, Lethabo, Tutuka, two units at Arnot, Matla and three units at Kriel.
“Eskom teams are working around the clock to return these generating units to service. It is anticipated that eight generating units will be returned to service in the next few days,” the power utility wrote.
Here is a snapshot of Eskom’s energy availability, observed from the evening peak period of Wednesday, 12 July 2023: