load shedding

The City of Tshwane has updated its load shedding schedule. Image: Pexels.

Load shedding update: More Stage 4, more misery ahead this weekend

It seems there is a very small glimmer of light at the end of Eskom’s load shedding tunnel. Well, it keeps going off every few hours, but still…

load shedding

The City of Tshwane has updated its load shedding schedule. Image: Pexels.

Well, at least we know when this Stage 4 madness will come to an end. Eskom have confirmed that we will have to go through another couple of days at this level, before the severity of the blackouts are reduced. However, the lingering prospect of load shedding is set to stay with us long into the weekend.

Confirmed: Continuous Stage 4 load shedding up to Friday

The power has been heavily restricted, after Eskom lost nearly 1 000 MW from a tripped unit at the Koeberg power plant. The nuclear facility sent the energy grid into a metaphorical meltdown, cranking up the load shedding schedule to a more extreme level. However, the broken pump which caused the issue has now been fixed.

It’s been an utterly chaotic time for the energy provider, who couldn’t even keep their load shedding schedules up and running earlier today. Customers were plunged into the dark – in more ways than one – when technical problems blighted Eskom’s IT department on Wednesday. The issue has now been resolved.

Eskom lay out the forecast for the rest of the week

Eskom issued a statement on the matter earlier in the day. The SOE explained that there will be intermittent power cuts for the next few days, and although Stage 4 will soon come to an end, there isn’t enough power being generated to guarantee when the system will be firing on all cylinders again:

“Following the trip of Koeberg Unit 1 and the associated loss of generating capacity, Eskom advise that Stage 4 load shedding will continue into Friday. The faulty pump at Koeberg has now been repaired and it’s running again. We are now in the process of obtaining regulatory approval in order to restart the unit.”

“We expect that load shedding, at various stages, may continue into the weekend. We’re currently utilising emergency reserves to supplement supply. Some units will return to service this evening, easing supply constraints.”

Eskom statement
  • You can read Eskom’s full statement on the matter here: