Will there be load shedding today? Eskom issues stark warning

Great. Eskom managed to keep the electricity on for Election Day, but just 12 hours after the voting stations closed, we’ve been warned that the lights could go out ‘at any time on Tuesday’, due to a number of issues at our power plants. Load shedding is looming over South Africa again, just days after Stage 4 outages returned with a vengeance.

Will there be load shedding today?

Eskom has stated that four units have gone offline on 2 November, increasing the likelihood of load shedding for later in the day. Almost 20 000 MW is off the grid at the moment, putting the utility in a very difficult position.

To prevent the system from being completely overwhelmed, a swift round of load shedding – just days after our last intolerable bouts – is now odds-on to make a return in the hours ahead. The frustration is palpable in South Africa, and the latest voting trends reflect a very gatvol public at the moment.

Eskom suggest power cuts ‘likely’ on Tuesday 2 November

Not only is the ANC on course for their worst-ever performance in a democratic election, but millions of voters gave the ballot a miss altogether. The voter turnout numbers for 2021 are expected to be a record low.

In a recently released statement, Eskom explained that they may have to cut the power ‘at short notice’, and gave us their standard apology for the situation. Yeah, we’re not sure how many of us are ready to accept that…

“While no load shedding has been implemented at this stage on Tuesday, we request that the public reduces its usage of electricity for today, as the power system is severely constrained. Load shedding may be required at short notice, should any further generational breakdowns occur.”

“Over the past 24 hours, two generation units at Amot and Hendrina tripped, with two further units forced into a shutdown. We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to the people of South Africa.”

Eskom

• You can read the full Eskom statement on load shedidng here:

#POWERALERT1

Loadshedding may be implemented at short notice should any further
breakdowns occur; Eskom requests the public to reduce the usage of electricity as the power system is severely constrained pic.twitter.com/ZEcDw1ZFOx

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) November 2, 2021