Staff Reporter.
Eskom has announced it will increase load shedding to Stage 4 from 2pm this afternoon until 10pm tonight.
Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha says this is due to additional breakdowns of a unit at Medupi and two units at Duvha power station, as well as the high winter demand.
“This is in order to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves which have been depleted. These emergency reserves are required to respond to further emergencies in order to maintain the stability of the national grid,” Mantshantsha said in a statement.
“Thereafter Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented as previously communicated. Breakdowns currently total 15,087MW of capacity, while planned maintenance is 1,273MW of capacity. These capacity constraints will continue for the foreseeable future and all South Africans are urged to reduce their use of electricity.”
The power utility apologised for “inconveniencing” South Africans.
For those living in the major metros, the load shedding schedules are available here:
- City of Johannesburg
- City of Ekurhuleni
- City of Tshwane
- City of Cape Town (PDF)
- Nelson Mandela Bay
- eThekwini
- Manguang
- Buffalo City
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.