Expect week of evening load shedding

Cape Town – Eskom’s capacity to meet demand is expected to be short by almost 3 000 MW during the evenings this week, data from its system status bulletin shows.

This could result in load shedding moving from stages 1 to 3 during the evening from Tuesday to Thursday.

Eskom implemented stage 1 load shedding on Monday from 15:00 to 22:00, which required 1 000 MW to be shed from the grid to ensure a total blackout was averted.

On Monday, Eskom had planned maintenance cuts of 6 322 MW and unplanned outages cuts of 4 641 MW.

Peak evening demand this week is predicted to be far more than the capacity, with Tuesday (less 2 958 MW), Wednesday (less 2 576 MW) and Thursday (less 2 703 MW) showing signs of load shedding up to stage 3a, when 3 000 MW needs to be cut from the grid.

Stage 1 requires 1 000 MW less electricity usage, stage 2 (2 000 MW), stage 3a (3 000 MW) and 3b (4 000 MW).

Work with Eskom

Eskom said South Africans could assist in lessening the impact of load shedding by lowering their consumption.

"There is a golden rule that applies to saving electricity in the home: If you’re not using it, switch it off," Eskom explained.

"By partnering with Eskom and changing the way we use energy everyday, you can make a difference to the electricity supply shortage in our country."

See the full forecast:

Eskom gave these tips:

Geyser: it guzzles 39% of your monthly energy usage. Switch it off to reduce your energy demand. Don’t forget to insulate the geyser and water pipes.

Shower: it uses less water than bathing and using less hot water means less work for the geyser. Use an energy efficient shower head since it uses less water.

Lighting: replace all your incandescent bulbs with energy saving Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and switch off the lights in unoccupied rooms.

Standby electricity: don’t leave your TV, DVD player, etc. on stand-by mode; they still use up to 50% of their operating power. Rather switch them off at the power switch and don’t forget to unplug your cell phone charger after your phone has been charged or it will continue to draw power.

Refrigeration: close your fridge door quickly so it doesn’t use extra power to get back to its optimal cooling level.

Temperature control: keep the room temperature between 18°C - 23°C, this is known as the “golden zone”.