Certain parts of Tshwane have been without power since Tuesday.
Photo: Flickr
Certain parts of Tshwane have been without power since Tuesday.
Photo: Flickr
According to Eskom Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer, it’s possible Eskom could face the mother of all nightmares – if a certain set of circumstances unfold over the next few weeks. The top executive didn’t sugarcoat his words, and during an emergency briefing on Wednesday, he spoke about the threat of Stage 10 load shedding.
That’s right… we’re now entertaining the prospect of double-figures.
Stage 10 load shedding? There’s a slim chance it could happen…
Oberholzer was addressing the crisis currently engulfing Eskom. The country was plunged into load shedding on Monday, and things have deteriorated since then. Stage 4 outages will remain in place until Saturday.
However, that sounds like an absolute festival of light, compared to the ‘very worst scenario’ Eskom could face. Speaking candidly, Oberholzer revealed that running out of diesel combined with a depletion of water from local dams would put the utility into unprecedented territory, forcing them to enforce ‘a further six stages of load shedding’.
- Considering we are already at Stage 4, adding six on top of that would take us to Stage 10 load shedding:
“Now, if we run out of diesel at our power stations, it would necessitate a further three stages of load shedding. If on top of that, our dam levels also end up getting depleted, that would lead to an ADDITIONAL three stages of load shedding. Combined, that would mean we’d have to go into a further six stages of load shedding.”
Jan Oberholzer
What even is Stage 10 load shedding?
South Africa has only ever gone as far as Stage 6 load shedding. Previously, the highest possible load shedding phase was Stage 8, which would see 12-hour blackouts across the country. Stage 10 load shedding promises to be even more crippling than that, leaving Eskom with next-to-zero functionality.
This, however, is still quite speculative. Oberholzer explained that a further six stages of load shedding would only happen if two twin catastrophes were to unfold – and for now, he’s not all that concerned.
Eskom aiming for weekend recovery
Eskom will be buoyed slightly by several units returning to service on Wednesday, and more should be online by the weekend. The COO has reasoned that emergency resources ‘must be consumed responsibly’.
“We must balance our emergency resources the best we can, while keeping the stage of load shedding as low as possible. This morning, we’ve had four units return to service. How does it look going forward? Well, we’re hoping another seven units are back by the weekend. But three of our units are running at ‘high risk’.”
Jan Oberholzer
