Eskom announces continuous Stage 5 and Stage 6 load-shedding

3 years ago 2

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Eskom has announced that the current Stage 5 and 6 load-shedding rotation will persist until further notice.

The power utility will implement Stage 5 rotational power cuts between 05:00 and 16:00 daily, with Stage 6 load-shedding taking over from 16:00 until 05:00 the following day.

“Stage 5 load-shedding will continue to be implemented at 05:00 – 16:00 daily, while Stage 6 load-shedding will be implemented at 16:00 – 05:00 daily until further notice,” Eskom said.

The power utility increased rotational power cuts to Stage 6 on 13 April 2023, attributing the need for higher load-shedding to the breakdown of a generating unit at the Medupi Power Station.

The unit was returned to service on 16 April. However, a generation unit failure at Koeberg and breakdowns at several other power stations resulted in the country remaining in alternating Stage 5 and 6 load-shedding.

Following the announcement of Stage 6 load-shedding on 16 April, Eskom warned that Stage 6 might not be enough to keep the grid up and running.

At the time, the power utility had more than 24,400MW of generation capacity unavailable. This figure was about equal to Eskom’s available generation capacity.

As a result, the power utility warned that the system is constrained and unpredictable, meaning higher stages of load-shedding might be required at short notice.