Eskom stopped stage 2 loadshedding at 6:00 this morning and will continue with stage 2 from 9:00 today (Friday) until 6:00 on Monday. This is due to a shortage of generation capacity and depleted emergency resources, which were used extensively to supplement capacity over the past few days. In addition, we are taking out three big units for planned maintenance today.

Unplanned outages were at 12 722 MW as at 05:30 this morning.  We are monitoring the system closely and we will continue to give periodic updates on the status of the power system as things may change at short notice.

We apologise to South Africans for the negative impact this may have on them. We want to assure the nation that critical maintenance is being done to units on planned outages as well as some of those on unplanned outages to ensure their timeous return to service.  We will use the weekend to replenish dam levels for pumped storage schemes and diesel for open cycle gas turbines.

To assist us in reducing the stage of loadshedding, we appeal to customers to continue to use electricity sparingly:

• Use the cold water tap rather than using the geyser every time
• Only fill kettles with as much water as you need
• Set air-conditioners’ average temperature at 23ºC
• Turn off computers, copiers, printers at the switch and avoid standby or sleep mode
• Switch off the lights and air-conditioners when you leave the office
• Switch off your geysers over peak periods
• Set your swimming pool pump cycle to run twice a day, three hours at a time for optimal energy use

Customers are advised to check their loadshedding schedules on the Eskom (loadshedding.eskom.co.za) or municipal websites depending on who supplies them.

Issued by Eskom