Eskom updates load-shedding timetable after breakdowns
Eskom has announced that it will maintain a schedule of stage 3 day-time load-shedding and stage 4 power cuts in the evenings until further notice.
As has become standard, the daytime schedule runs from 05:00 to 16:00 and the evening timeslot is 16:00 to 05:00 the following morning.
“Over the past 24 hours, two generating units at Tutuka Power Station were taken offline for repairs while two units at the Arnot Power were returned to service,” Eskom reported.
The state-owned power utility currently has 6,018MW offline for planned maintenance while breakdowns amount to 15,797MW of generating capacity.
“A further update will be published as soon as any significant changes occur,” Eskom stated.
“Eskom requests members of the public to continue assisting by reducing the usage and to sparingly use electricity.”
The timetable may be summarised as follows:
| Load-shedding schedule for 23–27 January 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Day | Day-time (05:00–16:00) | Evening (16:00–05:00) |
| 23 January 2023 | Monday | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
| 24 January 2023 | Tuesday | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
| 25 January 2023 | Wednesday | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
| 26 January 2023 | Thursday | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
| 27 January 2023 | Friday | Stage 3 | Stage 4 |
Eskom’s power station general manager Thomas Conradie said during a media briefing on Monday that they hoped to reduce load-shedding to stage 1 and stage 3 this week.
However, he also said it would depend on units returning to service and Eskom not incurring further losses.
“Eskom is experiencing very high levels of plant unreliability and forced outages currently,” Conradie said.
“A number of large generating units are off for an extended period contributing to the higher plant unavailability and loss of generating capacity.”
Eskom chair Mpho Makwana said on Sunday that South Africa should expect two years of permanent load-shedding while the power utility works to improve its energy availability factor (EAF).
“The global average for EAF is about 86%. We’re looking to grow from our current 58% EAF to 70% in the next two years,” said Makwana.
Makwana said they hoped to keep the stages fixed between stage 2 and stage 3.
“We want to create some predictability,” Makwana said. “Shuttling from one stage to the other is never good.”
However, outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter later clarified that the power utility could not commit to a specific load-shedding schedule.
Higher stages might sometimes be necessary, and if Eskom’s generating unit breakdown situation improves, lower stages could be possible.
Now read: Eskom office’s power cut for failing to pay R500,000 electricity bill
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