The Cape Town loadshedding schedule remains unchanged at the start of Wednesday, 10 May 2023, with outages expected to switch between Stages 4, 5 and 6.
Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Eskom has yet to resurface with a status update on the heavily constrained power grid. On Sunday, 7 May 2023, the embattled state-owned utility escalated rotational blackouts to a perpetual Stage 6 “due to the failure of additional generating units and the delay of several units to return to service.”
However, residents and businesses connected to the City of Cape Town municipality’s grid will be two stages lower until Thursday morning, if nothing changes.
According to the City, Stage 5 loadshedding will run from 05:00 until 16:00, and if nothing changes, power outages will be lowered to Stage 4 until 20:00.
Barring no further updates from Megawatt Park, City of Cape Town clients will only experience Stage 6 loadshedding between 20:00 and 05:00 the next day
“We are doing all we can to protect you where possible, but non-stop load-shedding at high stages impacts our ability to protect,” the City wrote.
Here’s a look at the Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Wednesday, 10 May 2023:
| Time | Cape Town | Eskom |
| 05:00 – 16:00 | Stage 5 | Stage 6* |
| 16:00 – 20:00 | Stage 4* | Stage 6* |
| 20:00 – 05:00 | Stage 6* | Stage 6* |
How to check your loadshedding schedule
In Cape Town, loadshedding is implemented rotationally in zones split between 23 areas.
Areas 1 – 16 follow the City of Cape Town’s loadshedding schedule, while Areas 17 – 23 adhere to Eskom’s national outage timetable.
To check the latest outage status, refer to the schedule for the loadshedding stage announced; dates indicated along the top (left to right), with the corresponding affected areas for that day and time slots (from top to bottom).
Here’s how City of Cape Town lowers loadshedding stages
The City of Cape Town has its Steenbras Pumped Storage Plant to thank for the delayed implementation of increased power cuts. The hydro-electric pumped power station is the first of its kind in Africa and in 2019, it was refurbished to provide auxiliary support when needed most.
Currently, the City of Cape Town is the only metro able to provide a semblance of relief to households impacted by loadshedding. Using the hydroelectric pumped power plant, residents connected to the City’s grid experience a lower stage of loadshedding, where possible.
Here’s how the Steenbras Pumped Storage plant works:
- Electricity generated during off-peak periods pumps water to an upper storage reservoir
- The down-flowing water is then used to power a generator
- Small hydro-generators like the one at Steenbras Dam mean that the City can sometimes avoid loadshedding or stay at a lower stage.