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Eskom announces weekend load shedding with a small break on Sunday
The lower stages of load shedding are a result of the return to service of some generation units in the past 48 hours.
As the country heads into the first weekend of 2024, Eskom has announced that Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented at 4 pm on Friday until 5 am on Saturday with a short suspension of the deliberate power cuts on Sunday.
Spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said this will be followed by Stage 1 load shedding until 4 pm.
Schedule
“Thereafter, Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 05:00 on Sunday. Load shedding will then be suspended from 05:00 until 16:00 on Sunday and Stage 1 will resume from 16:00 until 05:00 on Monday.
“The lower stages of load shedding are as a result of the return to service of some generation units in the past 48 hours, coupled with the anticipated lower weekend demand,” Mokwena said.
Mokwena added that Eskom will announce the outlook of the week ahead on Sunday and will communicate should any significant changes occur.
Earlier this week, the ailing state-owned entity confirmed the suspension of the rolling blackouts during the festive season for 18 days was the longest it has been able to keep the lights on in 18 months.
Festive load shedding
Mokwena said the suspension of load shedding during December was the longest since 2022.
“This is the longest period without load shedding since 30 May – 20 June 2022.”
Kusile
Meanwhile, Unit 5 at Eskom’s problematic Kusile power station, which was affected by a fire in 2022, is expected to contribute an additional 800MW to the country’s electricity grid, Eskom said.
This is good news for the country as Eskom struggles with generation capacity.
The power utility synchronized Unit 5 of the Kusile Power Station to the national grid for the first time at 5:22 pm on Sunday, 31 December 2023.
The unit will contribute an additional 800MW to the country’s power system which was never part of Eskom’s grid capacity.
