By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned ailing power utility Eskom announced that stage 4 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 today until 16:00 on Monday (13 March).
Stage 5 load shedding will then be implemented until 05:00 on Tuesday.
“The pattern of Stage 4 loadshedding from 05:00 to 16:00 and Stage 5 loadshedding from 16:00 to 05:00 will be repeated.” said Eskom.
The embattled power utility said that over the past 24 hours, a generating unit at Arnot Power Station was returned to service.
During the same period, a generating unit each at Kriel, Medupi and Tutuka power stations were taken offline for repairs, Eskom said.
The company added that the return to service of a generating unit each at Duvha, Medupi, Tutuka and two units at Hendrina power stations has however been delayed.
According to Eskom, breakdowns currently increased to 17,008MW of generating capacity while 4,600MW of generating capacity is out of service for planned maintenance.
The repairs to the damaged towers from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique are continuing and are anticipated to be completed by early next week, it added.
Although the energy crisis has taken the front seat of South Africa’s politics and multiple initiatives, have been implemented. Analysts and researchers at the large point to no short-term reprieve from rolling blackouts.
Recent data from the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) showed that relative to 2022, 2023 has been the worst load shedding on record.
The research firm expressed worry over the fact that when looking into 2022, South Africa’s summer months had the worst levels of load shedding despite being periods of low demand.
Winter months – which start from around June – typically see the highest demand, said the BER.
This puts Eskom and the government on a tight deadline to address the crisis before the winter months kick in.
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.
Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana says it will take 18 months to two years to fix load shedding, but there is no “shortcut”, and South Africans need to play a role in terms of reducing demand.
Makwana said Eskom expects to get to an energy availability factor (EAF) of 70% by the end of March 2025.
“It’s going to be a tough winter for sure, given that we’ve said to South Africans already, and I’m going to repeat that, we are going to take 18 months to two years to fix load shedding. It’s very clear, there is no shortcut.
“As of 31 March, we are looking at edging closer to, as fast as possible, a 60% energy availability factor,” he said.
“As of 31 March 2024, our forecast is 65% energy availability, and as of 31 March 2025, we will get to 70%.
“So, it is a process that requires two things to happen. It requires that as we do our best to fix the plant; we also do our best in the broader South Africa to add more megawatts onto our grid.
“What can we do, firstly, all of us … we need to start putting energy-efficient lighting in all our places. We have seen that in 2010/11 when we did the FIFA World Cup, we saved the equivalent of two levels of load shedding through demand-side management.”