Eskom published the weekend loadshedding schedule starting on Friday, which forecasts a pattern of reduced outages.
UPDATE: On Saturday, 27 January 2024, Eskom announced changes to the loadshedding schedule. See the updated schedule below.
Weekend loadshedding schedule starting Friday, 26 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, until further notice, be:
- at Stage 2 between midnight and 05:00;
- at Stage 1 between 05:00 and 10:00;
- suspended between 10:00 and 16:00; and
- Stage 2 from 16:00 until midnight.
The only change to this pattern, thus far, is expected to come on Friday, where instead of Stage 2 from 16:00, Stage 1 will be implemented.
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, 26 January 2024:
| Date | Morning Peak (05:00 – 10:00) | Afternoon Peak (10:00 – 16:00) | Evening Peak (16:00 – 05:00) |
| Friday 26 Jan 2024 | Stage 1 | Suspended | Stage 1 |
| Saturday 27 Jan 2024 | Stage 2* | Stage 2* | Stage 2* |
| Sunday 28 Jan 2024 | Stage 2* | Stage 2* | Stage 2* |
Update on breakdowns and available capacity
The last state of the power system update was on Wednesday, 24 January 2024. At the time, Eskom reported more than 13 250MW of generation capacity lost to breakdowns, with an additional 7 921MW 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:
