Eskom announced on Saturday that it will be implementing Stage 5 load shedding until 5am on Monday.
But what does Stage 5 load shedding mean for us?
Stage 5 load shedding amounts to shedding 5 000 MW. This means South Africans will effectively bear through about 8 hours of load shedding per day.
This is in stark comparison to Stage 4 load shedding which means you will be scheduled for load shedding 12 times over a 4-day period for two hours at a time or 12 times over an 8-day period for four hours at a time.
The reason for the Stage 5 load shedding implementation
Eskom said the reason for the Stage 5 load shedding was due to the breakdown of five generating units overnight.
“Regretfully, the breakdown of five generating units overnight and this morning, with a combined capacity of 2 400MW, has necessitated the escalation of load shedding to Stage 5 from 10am.
“This load shedding will be implemented until 5am on Monday,” said Eskom on Saturday.
A unit each at Kusile, Arnot and Camden, as well as two units at Duvha Power Station tripped.
Eskom said it was necessary to escalate the load shedding to stop the use of the emergency generation reserves and begin the replenishment thereof ahead of the week.
The power utility said the emergency generation reserves have been depleted by extensive utilisation to limit the amount of load shedding over the past two weeks.
IOL