stage 6 load shedding cape town

Stage 2 load shedding for Wednesday and Thursday. Photo: Unsplash.

Stage 6 and beyond: Here’s how many 4.5-hour load shedding slots Cape Town will have

Stage 6 load shedding could see residents experience load shedding blocks of four-and-a-half hours on alternate days.

stage 6 load shedding cape town

Stage 2 load shedding for Wednesday and Thursday. Photo: Unsplash.

Eskom announced that Stage 6 load shedding would be implemented from 16:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday, 28 and 29 June. The City of Cape Town said the reason it has not been offering its residents as much protection during the current bout of power cuts is that it has been building its reserves.

STAGE 6 WILL SEE 4.5-HOUR POWER OUTAGES

The City of Cape Town explained that load shedding at Stage 5 and beyond could see residents experience power outages that last up to 4.5 hours. The schedule differs from area to area and residents would need to look up their own areas.

However, the City provided a resource that gives an indication of how many bouts of load shedding – and the duration thereof – customers can expect per day depending on the Stage being implemented.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the city was meeting with their counterparts in Johannesburg about ending the metropolitan municipalities’ reliance on Eskom as soon as possible. The meeting was underway when the Stage 6 load shedding announcement was made.

Hill-Lewis said City of Cape Town customers would remain at Stage 4 load shedding thanks to the generation capacity saved at the Steenbras Dam. The current level of power cuts will continue until midnight on Tuesday followed by Stage 2 until 5:00 on Wednesday.

“The City always tries its very best to protect its customers. This is evident by looking at the data: Between January and May 2022, the City protected its customers through the use of the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme with one stage of load-shedding amounting to approximately 514 hours or 21 days of protection,” said MayCo Member for Energy, Councillor Beverly van Reenen.

The City said it is holding as many reserves as possible to “avoid the worst-case scenarios.”

Load-shedding for City customers – what it means
StageWhat happensPower off duration
Stage 4Four areas off, three times per day.Stage 1 to 4 – at any given time customers are only being shed for 2,5 hours.
Stage 5Five areas off; three times per day.One of the load-shedding blocks is 4,5 hours while the other two load-shedding durations will be 2,5 hours.
Stage 6Six areas off, three times per day.Customers could experience two 4,5 hour load-shedding blocks on alternate days. They’d need to check their particular schedule to see the impact. The remaining load-shedding block (s) would be 2,5 hours each.
Stage 7Seven areas off, three times per day.Customers could experience two 4,5 hour load-shedding blocks in the day or on an alternate day (according to the particular schedule). The remaining load-shedding block (s) would be 2,5 hours each.
Stage 850% of areas off at the same time.No relief: 4,5 hour load-shedding blocks, three times per day as long as Stage 8 is active.
The City is holding as much reserves as possible as contingency measures to avoid the worst-case scenarios.