Eskom announced that in the week of Monday, 28 November 2022, the loadshedding schedule should be contained at a maximum of Stage 2, barring no further breakdowns at its vulnerable coal-fired power plants.
Loadshedding schedule for the week of Monday, 28 November 2022
In a statement released on Sunday, the national electricity supplier confirmed blackouts would be suspended until the early hours of Monday, 28 November 2022.
At the time of reporting, Eskom had 5 032MW of power out on planned maintenance, “while another 16 390MW of capacity [was] unavailable due to breakdowns.”
In a bid to contain rotational outages at lower stages, Eskom’s plan for this week is to swap between Stage 1 and 2 loadshedding, starting from 05:00 on Monday morning.
In the evening peak hours, which generally fall between 16:00 and 05:00 the following morning, power outages will be increased to Stage 2.
“It is anticipated that no loadshedding will be implemented during the day from Tuesday. Eskom will publish a further update as soon as there are any significant changes,” the power utility said.
Eskom explained that prolonged loadshedding is, for the most part, “due to the high levels of breakdowns and the limited emergency generation reserves.”
Earlier in November 2022, Kusile Power Station lost significant generating capacity after Unit 1’s flue gas duct (FGD) detached from the sulphur dioxide absorber. At the time, the utility could not explain the cause of the severe damage.
However, what was very clear was that efforts to recover capacity from three affected units would take, at the very least, “a few months while repairs to the chimney system take place.”
Here is the official loadshedding schedule:
Monday, 28 November 2022
- 05:00 – 16:00 CAT – Stage 1 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 05:00 CAT the next day – Stage 2 loadshedding
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
- 05:00 – 16:00 CAT – No loadshedding anticipated
- 16:00 – 05:00 CAT the next day – Stage 2 loadshedding
Wednesday, 30 November 2022
- 05:00 – 16:00 CAT – Stage 1 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 05:00 CAT the next day – Stage 2 loadshedding
Thursday, 1 December 2022
- 05:00 – 16:00 CAT – Stage 1 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 05:00 CAT the next day – Stage 2 loadshedding
Friday, 2 December 2022
- 05:00 – 16:00 CAT – Stage 1 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 05:00 CAT the next day – Stage 2 loadshedding
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below:
