If nothing changes at Megawatt Park, then the loadshedding schedule will likely off at Stage 4 on Monday, 27 February 2023. Here’s what we know about what you can expect this week.
UPDATE: In a statement released on Thursday, Eskom confirmed loadshedding will return to Stage 4 on Friday, with plans to keep rotational blackouts at lower stages this weekend.
As of Thursday, 2 March 2023, breakdowns amounted to:
17 149MW – down 1 882MW from Tuesday, 28 February 2023
4 950MW – up 776MW from Tuesday, 28 February 2023
See the updated loadshedding schedule below:
UPDATE: Eskom updated this week’s loadshedding schedule with heightened outages starting from 16:00 on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, citing unplanned breakdowns at Duvha, Lethabo, Majuba and Tutuka.
As of Tuesday, 28 February 2022, breakdowns amounted to:
- 19 031MW – up 2 161MW from Monday, 27 February 2023
- 4 174MW – down 583MW from Monday, 27 February 2023
See the updated loadshedding schedule below.
UPDATE: Eskom published an update on this week’s loadshedding schedule, which should switch between Stages 3, 4 and 5 until Wednesday, 1 March 2023.
As of Monday, 27 February 2022, breakdowns amounted to:
- 16 870MW (unplanned) –down 4 373MW from Sunday, 19 February 2023
- 4 757MW (planned maintenance) – up 1 191MW from Sunday, 19 February 2023
Loadshedding schedule for week of Monday, 27 February 2023, confirmed
Frustrated South Africans were left with a deeper sense of uncertainty when Eskom, five days after the last update, surfaced with a statement regarding the state of the power system.
Late on Saturday, 25 February 2023, the national electricity supplier, whose week has been muddied in controversy, announced that Stage 5 loadshedding would be in effect until further notice.
In what’s become somewhat of a scapegoat for accountability, the state-owned power utility returned on Sunday morning, a few hours after the persistent Stage 6 was discontinued, to offer relief with a temporary reduction of yet another loadshedding stage.
This time, Eskom announced, “Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 09:00 on Sunday morning – until further notice.”
Eskom will publish a full statement in due course,” the utility said.
The statement in question had not surfaced at the time this article was published.
According to Eskom spokesperson Sikhonathi Mantshantsha, the utility’s generation capacity totalled 24 648MW at 19:21 on Saturday, with total demand eclipsing energy availability at 26 434MW.
Based on Mantshantsha’s statistics, Eskom, in fact, implemented Stage 5 loadshedding hours before the update was announced, since on Saturday evening, the system operator was shedding as much as 5 183MW from the grid.
More information on how this works can be found in our explainer on how Eskom implemented Stage 7 loadshedding without informing the public earlier this week.
Currently, no information is available on the state of Eskom’s planned and unplanned breakdowns.
However, as of Monday, 20 February 2022, breakdowns amounted to:
- 21 243MW (unplanned) – up 1 858MW from Sunday, 19 February 2023
- 3 566MW (planned maintenance) – down 1 443MW from Sunday, 19 February 2023
It remains unclear, at this juncture, what the schedule will look like from Tuesday, 28 February 2023.
Here is the official loadshedding schedule:
Monday, 27 February 2023
- 00:00 – 16:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 00:00: Stage 5 loadshedding
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Subject to change
- 05:00 – 16:00: Stage 3 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 00:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
Wednesday, 1 March 2023
Subject to change
- 00:00 – 16:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 00:00: Stage 5 loadshedding
Thursday, 2 March 2023
Subject to change
- 00:00 – 05:00: Stage 5 loadshedding
- 05:00 – 16:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 00:00: Stage 5 loadshedding
Friday, 3 March 2023
Subject to change
- 00:00 – 05:00: Stage 5 loadshedding
- 05:00 – 00:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
Saturday, 4 March 2023
Subject to change
- 00:00 – 05:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
- 05:00 – 16:00: Stage 3 loadshedding
- 16:00 – 00:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
Sunday, 5 March 2023
Subject to change
- 00:00 – 05:00: Stage 4 loadshedding
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below: