Eskom has announced it will implement Stage 4 loadshedding from 12pm on Wednesday until Friday, after which it will return to Stage 2.
In a statement on Twitter, the power utility said the increased loadshedding was due to multiple tripped units at its power stations.
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Regretfully Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 12:00 on Wednesday until 05:00 on Friday; thereafter Stage 2 loadshedding will continue as previously communicated until 05:00 on Saturday pic.twitter.com/H7CR4bk0A0
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) October 27, 2021
Previously, Eskom had expected to implement Stage 2 loadshedding for the duration of this week.
“Over the past 24 hours a unit each at Medupi, Kusile and Matla power stations tripped while a unit each at Lethabo and Arnot power stations were forced to shut down,” it explained.
“This constrained the power system further requiring extensive use of emergency reserves and therefore, hampering the recovery of these reserves.”
According to Eskom, the total breakdowns amount to 14 957MW while planned maintenance is 5 301MW of capacity.
The company apologised for the inconvenience and that it would announce if there are any changes to the power system.
Eskom Stage 2 and Stage 4 loadshedding schedule
Eskom will implement Stage 4 loadshedding from midday on Wednesday until 5am on Friday.
After that, it will return to Stage 2 until 5am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has announced it would continue to mitigate loadshedding as much as possible.
In a tweet soon after Eskom’s announcement, the city said it would implement Stage 2 and 3 loadshedding throughout Wednesday. It would then implement Stage 4 on Thursday:
The City is pleased to announced it is able to protect its customers with two stages of Eskom’s load-shedding for most of the day today.
Stage 2: 12:00 until 18:00
Stage 3: 18:00 until 20:00
Stage 2: 20:00 until 22:00
Stage 4: 22:00 until 05:00 tomorrow, 28 October#CTInfo pic.twitter.com/FKEYPbNlMM— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) October 27, 2021
Disclaimer: This article has been updated to reflect the City of Cape Town’s latest loadshedding schedule.
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Featured image: Unsplash/Bennett Dungan
