By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility Eskom has announced on Monday that Stage 4 load shedding would be implemented, partly due to the ‘high demand’.
Eskom said that it will publish an update shortly and is pleading with the public to switch off non-essential appliances to reduce load shedding.
The country has been hit with a harsh cold front leading to below-freezing temperatures in Gauteng and even snowfall in some parts of the province.
This pushes up demand for heating as households try to keep out of the cold.
The escalation to stage 4 load shedding intensity comes after electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopha said that the President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Energy Action Plan is bearing fruit, setting the country up for energy abundance.
Ramokgopa also said that Eskom, working alongside 100 experts from the private sector, has been able to mitigate load shedding, allow for generation recoveries, and ensure that the country is in the utility’s ‘best-case scenario’ for its winter outlook.
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.
Meanwhile backup power systems are experiencing a boom in South Africa amid the nation’s energy crisis, they are potentially hazardous.
Several experts have said that solar power installations at homes and commercial properties have risen quickly over the last six months as load shedding worsened, with installers experiencing something akin to a gold rush.
Nedbank, for example, has financed over R1.2 billion of private power generation for businesses and private residences and has arranged several transactions in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) worth R26 billion.
Despite the enthusiasm for new power solutions, they do come with several risks.
On Sunday, 9 July, Vodacom’s Cape Town headquarters in Century City caught fire, with several images and videos online showing the company’s solar panels on fire.
Vodacom and Jermaine Carelse, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesperson, said that the exact source of the fire is yet to be confirmed.
However, just a few days prior to the Vodacom Fire, the City of Cape Town said that there had been an increase in the number of emergencies caused by backup power solutions.