Eskom say that the lockdown has significantly reduced electricity demand.
Photo: Adobe Stock
Eskom say that the lockdown has significantly reduced electricity demand.
Photo: Adobe Stock
We’re used to saying that “things can only get better” when it comes to Eskom, but they always find new ways to prove us all wrong. The power utility have announced that this current schedule of load shedding will be increased from Stage 1 to Stage 2 by tomorrow morning.
The firm are blaming a number of generation units that were scheduled to come back online this afternoon. That never materialised, and it has left Eskom with an electricity shortfall. Here’s how the new schedule looks:
According to Eskom, they have 17 000 MW of power off the grid – a gargantuan amount:
“There has been further delays on some generation units that were expected to return to servicd today. They will now only return during the course of the week. This has put additional pressure on the sysetm and necessitated an increase in the stage of load shedding.”
“An ageing fleet is currently constrained, vulnerable and unpredictable. We advise South Africans that the stage of load shedding could change at short notice. As it stands, unplanned breakdowns are at 12 371 MW, and planned maintenances outages are on 4 728 MW.”
Eskom statement
To find out if, or when, your area or suburb will be impacted by load shedding, you first need to know whether your supply of electricity comes directly from Eskom or from the municipality. Let’s deal with Eskom-direct supplied areas first.
Eskom’s load shedding portal provides up to date details on the current stage of load shedding, the propensity for further rotational cuts, and an area search for direct consumers. It’s an easy to use search function, which although not always 100% accurate, at least provides a rough estimate of what to expect, when.
To check your daily load shedding schedule, go onto loadshedding.eskom.co.za and type either your suburb/village/area into the quick search field. If your electricity is supplied via the municipality, you need to refer to this table and contact the relative authorities – either via the web or phone.
#POWERALERT 1
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) March 9, 2020
Date: 09 March 2020
Stage 1 loadshedding to continue until 05:00, Stage 2 will be implemented from 09:00 tomorrow @SABCNewsOnline @SABCRadio @ewnupdates @eNCA @IOL @TimesLIVE @News24 @TheSAnews @Newzroom405 @SAgovnews pic.twitter.com/p4sbqHjmf3