This afternoon Eskom issued a power alert pleading with South Africans to reduce their electricity consumption.
The utility stated that it is currently experiencing a shortage of generating capacity brought about by breakdowns and delays in bringing units back to service.
“While no loadshedding is anticipated at this point, Eskom could be forced to implement Stage 1 or, if necessary, Stage 2 loadshedding at short notice should any further breakdowns occur,” Eskom said in the power alert.
If loadshedding does return, Eskom says it will be between 17:00 and 22:00 in the evening.
In terms of capacity, Eskom reports that 14 857MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns and 2 220MW is unavailable due to planned maintenance.
Exactly a week ago Eskom reduced Stage 2 loadshedding to Stage 1 and back then breakdowns had reduced capacity by 14 431MW while maintenance had reduced it by a further 2 281MW.
If we were the betting sort we’d be charging up our electronics, consulting the EskomSePush app (Android, iOS) and preparing for a cold night ahead.
For now though, there is no loadshedding but we recommend turning off all non-essential appliances, geysers and other power hungry equipment in your home.
Every little bit helps to avoid loadshedding.
Eskom requests the public to reduce the usage of electricity as the power system is under severe pressure, with a high probability of loadshedding pic.twitter.com/ibyF0hELLB
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) May 25, 2021