It comes less than an hour after Power Minister Kgosiensho “Suputra” Ramogopa told journalists and an audience on Sunday (February 11) that Stage 6 load reductions are expected to last until Wednesday (February 14). Before long, Eskom announced that it would switch to Stage 5 from the 12th. :00 “Until further notice.”
While even a small reprieve from load shedding would be welcome, it highlights the unpredictability of Eskom's power reduction rollercoaster, as South Africans seek to reduce the impact of Eskom's generation deficit. They are struggling to keep up with the ever-changing messages from their power companies. about their lives and livelihoods.
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During Stage 6 load shedding, South Africa will be without electricity for up to 10 hours per day.
In what was said to be an embarrassment for President Cyril Ramaphosa, Eskom announced a move away from the currently widespread Stage 2 load reduction shortly after the State of the Nation (Sona) speech on Thursday night.
Watch or read the full speech here.
In his speech, Prime Minister Ramaphosa assured South Africans that “the worst is behind us and the end of load shedding is finally within reach.”
That same night, Eskom increased load shedding to stage 4 and further strengthened it to stage 6 just after midnight. This led many South Africans to question Ramaphosa's assurances.
Both leaders say “the same thing”
However, Mr Ramogopa said on Sunday that there was “nothing new” in what Mr Ramaphosa said in Sona.
He said that as Minister of Power, he had frequently said that the country had turned the corner on load shedding, and there was no difference between that and what the president said in his speech.
Source: Eskom
He said Eskom had exceeded his summer forecasts and that energy availability should be viewed as a trend compared to the May 2023 baseline, just after he took office in March.
Mr Ramokgopa said Eskom would increase the amount of generation capacity taken offline for maintenance as the buffer of available generation capacity would be reduced and unforeseen setbacks could increase load shedding. We are taking calculated risks.
However, thanks to additional funding available to the government, Eskom is in a position to carry out even more maintenance.
He said the company wants to “do the right thing” and avoid cutting corners to achieve the long-term benefit of improved plant performance.
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A spate of units tripping or going offline Thursday night meant that risk had materialized, he said. Ramokgopa said this happens from time to time, but the impact will gradually lessen.
Source: Eskom
Stage 6 load shedding is still an outlier and occurs occasionally, but the standard never exceeds Stage 4.
Ramokgopa also said demand was also higher than expected, while contribution from renewable energy sources was lower than expected due to longer than expected cloud cover.
Source: Eskom
Both Mr Ramokgopa and Eskom's Head of Generation Capacity, Bheki Nxumalo, provided information supporting ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula's claim on social media platform X that the sudden collapse in Eskom's capacity was due to sabotage. could not.
Source: X
Mr Nxumalo further denied that the timing of Eskom's announcement on enhanced load shedding on Thursday night was delayed for clarity. ramaphosa An opportunity to be the first to deliver his sona.
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Several power generation units are scheduled to resume operations on February 13 and 14, which should provide further load relief.
