Eskom extends load-shedding break — here is the new timetable

Eskom has announced that load-shedding will remain suspended until 05:00 on Monday, 11 December 2023.

Thereafter, it will implement a rotation of Stage 3 load-shedding during the daylight hours and Stage 4 load-shedding overnight.

“Load-shedding will continue to be suspended until 05:00 on Monday,” Eskom said.

“From Monday to Thursday, Stage 3 load-shedding will be implemented from 05:00 until 16:00 and Stage 4 load-shedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 05:00.”

The power utility said higher stages are required during the week due to the normal expected demand increase during the week and increased planned maintenance.

It currently has 7,319MW offline for planned maintenance, with a further 12,884MW unavailable due to breakdowns.

The capacity loss resulting from planned maintenance is set to increase by almost 1,000MW on Monday, 11 December 2023, as Eskom takes Koeberg Power Station’s unit 2 reactor offline for its scheduled steam generator replacements.

Eskom has been testing Koeberg’s unit 1 generator since it was synchronised to the grid in mid-November 2023, and now that it is near full load, the power utility can shut down unit 2.

Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced the planned outage during a media briefing on Sunday, 10 December.

“We are taking out 980MW by tomorrow, and of course, unit 1 is almost at full load,” the minister said.

“I spoke to the team and said we have learnt from the mistakes and shortcomings relating to unit 1.”

“We asked them to keep to the timelines of returning unit 2,” Ramokgopa added.

The load-shedding schedule for Sunday, 10 December 2023, to Thursday, 14 November, is provided in the table below.

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