Eskom announces Stage 2 load shedding returns to South Africa tonight

Happy December! After the fuel price increased this week and the drama that is SAA, prepare for some more good news. Eskom on Thursday afternoon announced that Stage 2 load shedding will be reinstated from 4pm until 11pm.

This is due to a “shortage of capacity”.

#PowerAlert

Eskom regrets that Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 to 23:00 today due to a shortage of capacity.

@CityPowerJhb @City_Ekurhuleni @CityTshwane @CityofCT @eThekwiniM @SABCNewsOnline @ewnupdates @IOL @eNCA @SAgovnews @News24 @SowetanLIVE

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 5, 2019

Earlier on Thursday, the power utility issued a release stating that unplanned breakdowns meant 12 300MW was unavailable. This is well above the 9500MW safe zone.

It also suggested that there was sufficient diesel and pumped storage reserves to avoid load shedding if needed. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case.

Load shedding returns due to ‘loss of additional generation’

It added in an update at 3.30pm that additional generation units had been lost.

#POWERALERT 2
Date: 05 December 2019

Stage 2 loadshedding from 16:00 today @ewnupdates@SABCNewsOnline @IOL @SAgovnews @News24 @TheCitizen_News @SowetanLIVE @JacaNews @Radio702 @dailymaverick @TimesLIVE @mailandguardian @Fin24 @Moneyweb pic.twitter.com/xBQU69uHxU

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 5, 2019

“We remind customers that load shedding is conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout,” it added.

It’s the first time Eskom has had to implement rolling blackouts since 8 November, when the utility cut power to cities overnight.

When is your city or municipality load shedding?

We’ve compiled a list of some of the country’s largest cities’ and municipalities’ schedules right here. Be sure to bookmark this little resource.

Developing…

Feature image: the independently-owned Kelvin Power Station in Johannesburg, by Andy Walker/Memeburn