Brace yourself for another round of power outages as Eskom announced the implementation of stage 1 and stage 3 loadshedding on Saturday. This move comes as Eskom continues to grapple with capacity constraints and ongoing maintenance issues, causing disruptions in electricity supply across the country.
Stage 1 and stage 3 loadshedding schedule:
- Stage 1: 5am on Saturday morning until 4pm in the afternoon
- Stage 3: 4pm on Saturday until midnight
Eskom confirmed that loadshedding would then be suspended from midnight until 5am on Sunday morning. The same pattern will be repeated on Sunday until midnight.
According to IOL, Eskom’s interim spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, highlighted the current breakdowns in generating capacity, with 14 675 MW out of service. Meanwhile, planned maintenance has contributed to an increase in the generating capacity out of service, reaching 3 908 MW.
In an effort to alleviate the situation, Eskom successfully returned generating units at the Arnot, Kendal and Kriel power stations to service in the past 24 hours. However, delays in bringing a unit at Grootvlei and two units at Hendrina power stations back online are contributing to the existing capacity constraints.
Mokwena assured the public that Eskom teams are working tirelessly to resolve the maintenance issues and restore the generating units to service over the next few days. Should any significant changes occur, Eskom will release another update to keep the public informed.
Also read:
What happened to loadshedding? Eskom’s CEO sheds light on the matter
Picture: Jacques Hugo / Getty Images
