On Sunday, Eskom ushered in festive hopes with the continued suspension of loadshedding, indefinitely.
Eskom extends suspension of loadshedding for another week
This announcement, coming just days before the Christmas season, is a welcomed shift from the frequent power outages that have characterised much of 2023.
The state-owned entity explained in a statement that the extended pause in rampant outages is attributed to improved generating capacity.
“The evening peak demand forecast is 23 471MW. Unplanned outages are currently at 12 158MW and planned maintenance is 8 728MW of generation capacity,” Eskom revealed.
Albeit tentative, the power utility noted loadshedding will remain suspended until Friday, 22 December 2023.
“Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate should any significant changes occur,” the utility explained.
How much loadshedding did we get in 2023?
To give a clearer picture, 2023 has been a challenging year of perpetual darkness, courtesy of loadshedding. South Africa faced about 407 746 minutes of blackouts, which is equivalent to 83% of the amount of time loadshedding has been active in 2023, the highest it’s been since the system was implemented in 2008.
By May 2023, the country had already accumulated almost 35 days of blackout time.
In terms of energy shed, there was an estimated 16,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) lost in 2023, which is a significant increase from the 8,000 GWh in 2022 and eight times more than the 2,000 GWh in 2021.
The economic implications of such extensive loadshedding are considerable. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) estimates the daily economic cost of Stage 6 loadshedding at nearly R1 billion, highlighting the severe impact on both the economy and the day-to-day life of citizens.
Here’s a breakdown of the total days South Africans have spent in loadshedding, per Stage:
- Stage 1 – 25 days
- Stage 2 – 36 days
- Stage 3 – 74 days
- Stage 4 – 80 days
- Stage 5 – 22 days
- Stage 6 – 45 days
In April 2023, Eskom implemented Stage 8 loadshedding without prior notice. Despite vehement denials from the electricity ministry, energy availability data from the week of 10 April 2023 showed that, in fact, Eskom shed 7 072MW from the grid, putting it above the Stage 8 threshold of between 7 001MW to 8 000MW.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ANC’s national working committee meeting in Polokwane at the time, said he was not aware of Eskom’s alleged silent implementation of Stage 8 loadshedding.
“I did indicate from the onset of my responsibilities that I am going to be very honest, transparent and brutally honest with the South African public. I had indicated that if there is any degree of deterioration of the grid I’ll communicate that directly with the South African public,” he insisted
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below: