Eskom announces stage 4 and stage 5 load-shedding — here is the timetable

3 years ago 1

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Eskom says it will implement stage 4 load-shedding between 05:00 and 16:00 daily, followed by stage 5 load-shedding from 16:00 to 05:00.

This schedule will start from Tuesday, 17 January 2023.

“Over the course of this week 14 generators are expected to return to service, helping to ease the pressure on the power system,” it said.

The planned load-shedding timetable may be summarised as follows:

Stage 4 — 05:00–16:00
Stage 5 — 16:00–05:00

“Eskom cautions the public, however, that there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with this and that these changes will only be possible in their entirety if the units return to service as planned.”

It said changes in load-shedding stages could occur at short notice, due to the inherent unreliability of its coal power station fleet.

Eskom also revealed that it procured an additional 50 million litres of diesel on 6 January 2023.

“This fuel will be utilised sparingly to manage the pumped storage dam levels and to limit the amount of load-shedding during the day,” it said.

“Together, these emergency generators contribute 5,700MW of capacity.”

A generating unit each at Kendal, Majuba, and Tutuka power stations returned to service today.

“The summer planned maintenance programme continues, and will taper off during the winter months, helping to make more capacity available to produce electricity,” Eskom said.

“There are currently 12 generators out on planned maintenance, representing 5,804MW of capacity.”

Breakdowns account for 16,173MW of unavailable generating capacity.