There is finally light at the end of the proverbial load shedding tunnel for South Africans ahead of the weekend as Eskom has announced that the power cuts will be lowered to stage 1 on Friday evening, 6 May 2022 at 22:00.
Eskom re-introduced stage 2 load shedding earlier this week due to a shortage of generation capacity and breakdowns at some of its power stations.
LOAD SHEDDING REDUCED DUE TO LOWER DEMAND
In addition, the power utility says the situation might improve once again this weekend as generating units continue to return to service. The decision to downgrade load shedding has been attributed to lower demand for ahead of the weekend.
“Due to the lower weekend demand, loadshedding will be reduced to Stage 1 from 22:00 this evening. Loadshedding will continue at that level until 05:00 on Monday. It is possible to reduce the stage of loadshedding during the weekend due to the lower demand and in anticipation
of generation units returning to service during the weekend. Eskom will continue to monitor the system and implement any changes as required,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.
The utility says units at Matla, Hendrina and Arnot power stations have returned to service, while generation units at Kendal and Matimba power
stations tripped.
“Further, delays in returning two generators to service at the Tutuka Power Station have added to the capacity constraints. Eskom expects to rely on the use of emergency generating reserves to supplement available supply and to limit the stage of loadshedding during this period,” Mantshantsha adds.