Eskom published the weekend loadshedding schedule starting on Friday, which forecasts reduced outages.
UPDATE: On Sunday, 21 January 2024, Eskom made changes to the loadshedding schedule. See the updated schedule below.
Weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 19 January 2024
On Wednesday, Eskom reintroduced patterned outages, after a week of reduced loadshedding.
In a statement, the struggling utility explained that from Wednesday, loadshedding would return at Stage 3 starting at 16:00 until 05:00, and Stage 2 between 05:00 and 16:00 the next morning, until further notice.
Barring any unexpected changes necessitated by unplanned breakdowns at Megawatt Park’s ailing generation fleet, loadshedding should maintain this pattern throughout the weekend.
Here’s a look at the provisional weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 19 January 2024:
| Date | Morning Peak (05:00 – 12:00) | Afternoon Peak (12:00 – 16:00) | Evening Peak (16:00 – 05:00) |
| Friday 19 Jan 2024 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 |
| Saturday 20 Jan 2024 | Suspended | Stage 1 | Stage 1 |
| Sunday 21 Jan 2024 | Suspended* | Suspended* | Stage 2* |
Update on breakdowns and available capacity
The last state of the power system update was on Wednesday, 17 January 2024. At the time, Eskom reported more than 14 894MW of generation capacity lost to breakdowns, with an additional 8 336MW offline due to several units placed out of commission for planned maintenance.
Here is a snapshot of Eskom’s energy availability, observed from the evening peak period of Monday, 15 January 2024: