Eskom slashes load-shedding stage

Eskom will reduce load-shedding from stage 3 to stage 2 at 10:00 on Friday, 16 February 2024.

The further reduction in the rotational power cuts was made possible by additional Eskom generating units returning to service, emergency reserve capacity being at adequate levels, and an anticipated drop in electricity demand.

Stage 2 load-shedding will remain in effect until further notice and Eskom said it would communicate should any significant changes occur.

The power utility started the week with continuous stage 5 load-shedding on Monday and the early morning hours on Tuesday.

It then switched to a rotation of stage 3 during most day-time hours and stage 4 load-shedding in the evenings.

On Wednesday, it scrapped stage 4 load-shedding during the evening and early morning periods and implemented stage 3 load-shedding continuously.

It is difficult to track the role that Eskom’s generation recovery played in this gradual reduction as it last published evening peak demand statistics for Tuesday, 13 February 2024.

However, the utility’s online data portal showed that its unplanned outages reduced substantially between the weekend and Monday — from around 18,000MW to 14,000 of capacity — before ticking up again slightly on Tuesday.

The graph below shows the changes in Eskom’s unplanned capacity loss factor and other capacity loss factor, which make up its total unplanned outages, over the past two weeks.