Eskom abruptly announced the unwelcome return of loadshedding this week, starting from 16:00 on Tuesday.
Eskom escalates loadshedding at short notice: Here’s their explainer
In a somewhat electric twist, two generating units failed to return to service, coupled with the loss of three additional units, leading to this power predicament, the ailing utility explained in a statement.
Consequently, Stage 2 loadshedding will kick off at 16:00, followed by Stage 1 loadshedding from 05:00 to 16:00 on Wednesday, 10 January 2024.
This alternating pattern of Stage 1 and Stage 2 loadshedding will continue until further notice.
During Stage 2, power cuts are more frequent and longer than in Stage 1, so it’s time to dust off those candles and flashlights.
In what’s become a standard recital, Eskom assured the public teams are working hard to return 2 700MW of generating capacity to service by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, unplanned outages are currently at 14 953MW, and the capacity out of service for planned maintenance stands at 7 638MW.
The evening peak demand for Tuesday is projected at 24 977MW.
South Africans endured more loadshedding in 2023 than in the previous ten years combined, experiencing a total of 1 296 blackout hours, equivalent to nearly two full months of power outages.
This was significantly higher than the 53 days of blackout hours combined from 2014 to 2022.
The maximum stage of loadshedding considered in 2023 was Stage 16, which would have led to 24 hours of rolling blackouts in 32 hours. However, this stage was not implemented.
