South Africa’s energy system is in the endgame following Eskom’s decision to plunge the country into Stage 6 loadshedding on Sunday, 18 September 2022.
Loadshedding upgraded to Stage 6: Here’s what we know
Ahead of its media briefing at 10:00, the national electricity supplier upgraded rotational power cuts to Stage 6 loadshedding.
At the time of the impromptu announcement, Eskom had been loadshedding at Stage 5
This, the power utility explained, was the result of a combined capacity loss of 2 400MW caused by breakdowns at five generating units at Kusile, Arnot, Camden and Duvha power stations.
In the wee hours of Sunday, the national energy supplier confirmed the loss of two more units at Kusile and Kriel power stations.
“Following the tripping of a generation unit each at Kusile and Kriel power stations, Stage 6 loadshedding was implemented effective 04:16. Eskom appeals to the public to help conserve electricity,” Eskom announced on social media.
At Stage 6 loadshedding, up to 6 000MW of capacity needs to be shed. To achieve this, Eskom cuts off electricity supply up to 12 times over a four-day period. In most regions, this means no power for six two-hour periods, while in some areas are subject to outages that last four hours, six times a day.
“On Sunday, through a media briefing Eskom will provide the outlook of the loadshedding stages for the week ahead as the teams are working around the clock to return units to service,” the power supplier wrote.
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below:
- City of Johannesburg
- City of Ekurhuleni
- City of Tshwane
- City of Cape Town
- Nelson Mandela Bay
- eThekwini
- Manguang
- Buffalo City
At this time, it remains unclear how long Stage 6 loadshedding is in place.
This is a developing story.