As the dust settles on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent State of the Nation Address (SONA), which political pundits have critiqued with less than stellar reviews, Eskom has announced an abrupt escalation to Stage 3 loadshedding beginning at 22:00 tonight and continuing until further notice.
UPDATE: On Friday, 9 February 2024, Eskom escalated loadshedding to Stage 4 “due to two additional generation units being taken out of service for repairs”. See the original story below.
Eskom escalates loadshedding to Stage 3 for the weekend
In a statement, the utility cited the pressing need to replenish pumped storage dams, essential for meeting peak demands, and the repair of a generating unit offline over the past 24 hours as primary reasons for this heightened level of loadshedding.
The unscheduled power cuts amount to 15 958MW of lost generating capacity, with an additional 6 771MW offline for planned maintenance.
Despite the interruption, Eskom’s Power Station general managers and their teams have pledged unwavering commitment to the restoration of full generating capacity, with a target set for Monday, 12 February 2024.
Thursday evening’s demand peaked at 27 415MW, revealing the delicate balance between supply and demand within the nation’s power grid.
“Eskom will communicate should any significant changes occur,” the utility noted.
For more information, check out our updated weekend loadshedding schedule.
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below: