On the week of Monday, 22 May 202, Eskom will introduce a loadshedding schedule with a pattern of Stages 3 and 5.
UPDATE: On Friday, 26 May 2023, Eskom confirmed that Stage 5 loadshedding is likely to remain in place until 05:00 on Saturday. For the rest of the weekend, daytime blackouts are expected to switch between Stages 3 to Stage 2, while in the evenings, Stages 5 and 4 outages will be in effect until further notice.
See the updated loadshedding schedule below:
Here’s the loadshedding schedule for week of Monday, 22 May 2023
The embattled power utility explained in a statement that from Monday, 22 May 2023, Stage 3 loadshedding will be in effect during daytime peak periods (05:00 – 16:00), while in the evenings (16:00 – 05:00), rotational outages will be hiked to Stage 5.
Capacity constraints continue to plague the national electricity supplier who, on Sunday, reported unplanned breakdowns amounted to more than 16 488MW, about 1 488MW above the 15 00MW target set by Eskom in its winter plan.
“In the last 24 hours, a generation unit at Duvha Power Station was taken out of service due to breakdown. Furthermore, the delay in returning units to service at Arnot, Camden, Kendal, Tutuk and two generating units at Hendrina power stations continue to add to the current capacity constraints,” Eskom explained.
The power utility assured South Africans that “the team is working tirelessly to ensure that generating units are returned to service as soon as possible.”
Here’s a snapshot of Eskom’s energy availability, as reported on the evening of Saturday, 20 May 2023.
- Eskom availability: 26 691MW
- Loadshedding: 3 917MW
- Total demand: 30 967MW
- Number of OCGTs and GTs utilised: 10
- Renewable gen: 849MW
- IPP availability (Dispatchable): 1 014MW
- RES – Wind: 503MW
- CSP: 346MW
As of Tuesday, 23 May 2023, breakdowns amounted to:
- 18 177MW – up 1 691MW from Sunday, 21 May 2023
- 2 629MW – down 1 190MW from Sunday, 21 May 2023
Here is the official loadshedding schedule:
| Date | Morning Peak (05:00 – 16:00) | Evening Peak (16:00 – 05:00) |
| Monday 22 May 2023 | Stage 3 | Stage 5 |
| Tuesday 23 May 2023 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 |
| Wednesday 24 May 2023 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 |
| Thursday 25 May 2023 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 |
| Friday 26 May 2023 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 |
| Saturday 27 May 2023 | Stage 3* | Stage 5* |
| Sunday 28 May 2023 | Stage 2* | Stage 4* |
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below: