On Monday 9 May, South Africa’s main power supplier warned of the possibility that loadshedding would have to be implemented on short notice. And only a few hours later, Eskom confirmed that Stage 2 will begin from 17:00 until 22:00.
Eskom to keep the peak times under control
Now that the season has officially changed and winter weather is nearly in full swing, electricity usage is automatically more.
And according to Eskom, the peak times when the most electricity is used around South Africa are:
- Between 16:00 – 22:00 at night
- Between 05:00 – 09:00 in the morning
However, these expected electricity spikes are compromised even more when the power station is constantly dealing with broken-down generator units, as well as units that are delayed in returning from service.
And since the initial short notice loadshedding warning, a generation unit each at Kriel, Grootvlei and Majuba power stations tripped this afternoon.
For now, Eskom has only implemented loadshedding until tonight, however, it can be expected that Stage 2 will maintain for the rest of the week.