Eskom published the loadshedding schedule for the weekend starting on Friday, 4 August 2023, which forecasts recurring evening shifts of Stage 3 outages.
Weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 4 August 2023
On Friday, 4 August 2023, Eskom confirmed loadshedding will drop to Stage 3 from 16:00 and follow a pattern of reduced outages for the rest of the weekend, “due to lower demand.”
In a statement, the power utility revealed that in the past 24 hours, “a generating unit at Camden Power Station was returned to service.”
“The delay in returning to service a generating unit at Kendal and two generating units at Tutuka power stations is contributing to the current capacity constraints,” Eskom explained.
Therefore, this weekend, Eskom clients will be placed on a patterned loadshedding schedule of Stage 1 during the day and Stage 3 in the evenings.
Here’s a look at the weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 4 August 2023:
| Date | Morning Peak (05:00 – 16:00) | Evening Peak (16:00 – 05:00) |
| Friday 4 August 2023 | Stage 1* | Stage 3* |
| Saturday 5 August 2023 | Stage 1* | Stage 3* |
| Sunday 6 August 2023 | Stage 1* | Stage 3* |
Update on breakdowns and available capacity
On Friday, Eskom reported more than 15 901MW of generation capacity lost to breakdowns, with an additional 4 014MW offline due to several units placed out of commission for planned maintenance.
Since Friday, Eskom’s generation fleet lost a generating unit at Kendal and two at Tutuka power stations.
Here is a snapshot of Eskom’s energy availability, observed from the evening peak period of Thursday 3 August 2023: