South Africans have been stocking up on candles and dusting off their gas stoves after Eskom announced it would be implementing stage 6 load shedding. With a complete grid collapse looming and more blackouts on the cards, The City of Cape Town is attempting to minimise the impact by dipping into its reserves and utilising the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme.
“As a City, we will do all we can to help our residents, protect service delivery and infrastructure and keep our network stable. Needless to say, Stage 6 load-shedding will have a profound impact on Cape Town and we are working to make sure the impact is reduced as far as possible by offering some protection from the higher stages of load-shedding,” it said in a statement.
The Steenbras storage scheme provided nearly 514 hours (21 days) of protection from load shedding from January to May, but not much protection has been afforded to customers this time around as the City attempts to build up its reserves in the event that Eskom announces higher stages of load shedding.
The City is urging residents to “flatten the peak” by reducing power usage in the morning and evening, ensuring that the use of electrical appliances is only utilised during non-peak hours.
“Geysers use the bulk of household energy and reducing the temperature of the geyser to 60 degrees Celsius or making sure the geyser is on a timer and only active for an hour or two per day is a crucial step to reducing energy usage and making sure we are able to build some reserves,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen.
Here are a few load shedding tips and tricks from the City:
- Keep devices charged.
- Keep vulnerable family members and friends in mind.
- Make a workplace contact plan (no or low cell reception/connectivity).
- Approach intersections where the traffic signals are off, as four-way stops.
- Switch off electrical appliances to avoid nuisance tripping and reduce geyser temperature to 60˚C, or put geyser on a timer.
- Make sure your vehicle has fuel in the tank.
- Keep cash on you as ATMs can’t operate without electricity.
- Make sure backup batteries for electrically operated gates, garage doors and security systems are able to last through periods of load-shedding.
- Store temporary lighting such as battery-powered torches, gas lamps and candles (with lighters) in places where they will be easy to find in the dark.
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