Here’s what you need to know about load shedding

Eskom issued a warning that it is experiencing “severe generation capacity challenges” and that stage 2 load shedding will continue on Thursday.

“In order to protect the power system from a total collapse or blackout and having taken into account all the recovery efforts currently being implemented, our prognosis for tomorrow (Thursday) is that stage 2 rotational loadshedding will be implemented from 09:00 to 23:00,” Eskom acting CEO Jabu Mabuza said in a statement. Here’s what you need to know:

Rotational power cuts

Power cuts are being implemented for up to four hours from 9am to 11pm, on a rotational basis countrywide. Eskom said stage two power cuts will help shed 2,000MW.

Schedule

Eskom and Johannesburg’s City Power have uploaded load-shedding schedules, which provide the dates, times and areas in which the power cuts will take place.

Why?

Eskom attributed the power cuts to breakdowns and generation capacity. It said the breakdowns are above 10,500MW. Acting group CEO Jabu Mabuza said load-shedding is always the last resort and that the power utility strives to avoid it. However, if necessary, it will “do so at minimum levels and with as much predictability as possible”.

And how is load shedding affecting the rand?

South Africa‘s rand inched lower early on Thursday, extending the previous session’s sharp drop as the latest nationwide power cuts renewed fears of credit ratings downgrades.

At 0610 GMT, the rand was 0.08% weaker at 14.9520 per dollar, after sliding as much as 1% to a one-week low 15.0550 in the previous session.

Light at the end of the tunnel

“Contingency measures have been put in place to manually feed coal to Medupi (power plant) whilst we look into a permanent solution to the coal conveyor belt failure at the station,” Eskom said.

“We have started receiving additional diesel supplies from the major oil service providers and as such we are comfortable that we can build the necessary diesel and water reserves to acceptable levels over the weekend.”

According to Eskom this what you can do to cope easier:

• Keep your cell phone fully charged when the power is on.
• Make sure your vehicle/s have fuel in the tank – petrol stations cannot pump fuel during power outages.
• Access, security and safety always remain a top priority.
• Keep a battery-powered torch in a place where it will be easy to find in the dark – make sure you have an extra set of fresh batteries.
• Invest in a small LP gas lamp for good quality lighting over a large area.
• Invest in a small LP gas heating ring for essential cooking and to boil water for hot drinks – make sure you have an extra bottle of gas
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed at all times – a power outage of four hours should not cause food spoilage and a freezer should keep food frozen and safe for at least a day.
• Most medication that needs refrigeration can be kept in a closed fridge for several hours without spoiling – it is essential that you check with your doctor or pharmacist to be sure about your type of medication.