Cape Town - Load shedding and load curtailment will move from stage 1 to stage 2 at 10:00 on Friday, which is expected to continue until 22:00, Eskom has announced.
"This is due to a further shortage of generation capacity and to build up reserves to lessen the impact of load shedding," the utility said.
This is the sixth day in a row that Eskom has implemented stage 2 load shedding, which is when the utility requires 2 000MW less usage by its customers.
Load curtailment is when big industries cut 10% of their electricity usage and is agreed upon between those industries and Eskom.
"The electricity supply system remains very vulnerable due to a shortage of generation capacity as several units are currently out of service due to planned and unplanned outages.
"Eskom would like to assure customers that load shedding is implemented as a necessary measure to protect the power system. Any additional changes on the already vulnerable and constrained power system could lead to a change in the stage of load shedding at short notice.
"We will communicate if there is a need to change stages."
Why some people don't get load shedding
“As far as exclusions from load shedding are concerned, the city is guided by what is referred to as regulation NRS048-9,” said mayoral committee member for utility services, Ernest Sonnenberg.
“This is the national standard for load shedding and deals with the appropriate treatment of critical loads and the essential load requirements of various customers.”
NRS048-9 identifies the following criteria for the implementation of load shedding: the safety of people, the environment, the potential damage to plants associated with a critical national product (for example wastewater treatment works) and technical constraints on executing load shedding and curtailment or restoration.
“Based on these criteria and where possible, the city does exclude major hospitals, major central business districts and areas where there are major crowds gathered for specific events,” he said.
“Areas that have been previously excluded are the Table Mountain cable car, as well as parts of the central business districts across the city and major hospitals.
“Some residents and businesses may be excluded from load shedding if their properties share a dedicated circuit with the abovementioned exclusions.”