South Africans to Expect Stage Six Load-Shedding Until Further Notice

Sunday Eskom announced the implementation of stage 6 as from 4 pm Sunday until further notice due to the failure of additional generating units and the delay in returning several units to service.

The power utility said, “This is anticipated to persist throughout the week. Eskom will publish a further update as soon as any significant changes occur.”

“Since yesterday morning, a generating unit each at Duvha, Lethabo and Medupi power stations have returned to service. Over the past 24 hours, a generation unit each at Majuba, Medupi and Tutuka power stations were taken out of service due to breakdowns.

“Furthermore, the delay in returning units to service at Arnot, Camden, Hendrina, Majuba, Matla and Tutuka power stations continues to add to the current capacity constraints,” Eskom said.

According to reports by TimesLIVE, the Eskom breakdowns are at 19,333MW of generating capacity, while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 4,524MW.

Power utility Eskom went on to thank South Africans who use electricity efficiently. “We thank those South Africans who do heed the call to use electricity sparingly and efficiently, including switching off geysers from 5pm to 9pm, in helping to alleviate the pressure on the power system and avoiding higher stages of loa-shedding,” Eskom said.

Last month, Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa warned South Africans to expect a dark and cold winter if Eskom’s grid remains constrained.

In a media briefing, Ramokgopa said if the energy demands increase in winter and causes the gap to increase to 10,000MW, it may lead to higher stages of load-shedding.

“Our initial computations suggest we need something in the order of about 6,000MW for us to close this gap,” said the minister.

“This is a determination made on summer conditions. On average, Eskom can guarantee us about 27,000MW, and we know that peak demand in summer is about 32,000MW.”

“Now we are entering winter, which is going to be a very difficult period. The numbers suggest that historically the average [demand] is about 35,000MW, but it can go up to 37,000MW.”

“If this demand is going to go up to about 37,000MW, the worst case scenario, and we are not able to improve on this 27,000MW, you can see the gap grows from 5,000MW to 10,000MW.”

“The second option is to bring down demand. The third option, our preferred option, is that you do both. You ramp up generation and reduce demand, but as you reduce demand, you don’t undermine the ability of households to meet their daily needs and you don’t undermine the ability of commerce and business to operate and meet the commercial demands.”