Eskom will increase load-shedding from stage 1 to a rotation of stage 2 and stage 3 for the rest of the week.
The utility said it would implement stage 3 on the evening of Tuesday, 27 December 2022, until 05:00 on Wednesday, 28 December 2022.
Stage 2 will be implemented from 05:00 until 16:00 on Wednesday, 28 December 2022. This rotation of stage 2 and stage 3 will be repeated every day for the rest of the week.
Eskom did not provide details on why it was necessary to increase load-shedding from stage 1, which it implemented after a 24-hour suspension of the power cuts on Christmas Day.
Electricity demand during the peak evening period on that day was below 20,000MW, much less than the 25,000-30,000MW of typical peak demand. It was also well short of the nearly 25,000MW of generating capacity available at the time.
It is not clear if electricity demand had increased since that time or if further generating unit breakdowns occurred that significantly impacted the gap between capacity and demand.
Eskom again appealed to South Africans to conserve as much electricity as possible during the period.
SOURCE: My broadband