Loadshedding Stages Explained in Detail

Here is what the different stages of load shedding mean

At every stage of load shedding, Eskom rations the country by a further 1,000MW of power, the equivalent of 1,000,000 kilowatts (A microwave or kettle uses around 1 kilowatt, so one way to think of the stages is that at every escalation, Eskom switches off a million kettles.)

Stage 1: Requires up to 1,000 MW of electricity to be shed and can be implemented three times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or three times over an eight-day period for 4 hours at a time.
Stage 2: Will double the frequency of Stage 1, which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding six times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or six times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.
Stage 3: Will increase the frequency of Stage 2 by 50 percent, which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding nine times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or nine times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.
Stage 4: Will double the frequency of Stage 2, which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding 12 times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or 12 times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.

For a more detailed explanation :

At Stage 1, South Africa as a whole is forced to save 1,000MW, or a million kettles, which – depending on the choices of local governments – means either short outages for individual electricity users or blackouts in only small parts of cities.

At Stage 2 the national grid is short 2,000MW, or two million kettles, at stage 3 rationing reaches 3,000MW, and so on.

How suburbs and towns are affected by every stage depends on a range of factors, including what time of day the electricity emergency is declared. The exact social and economic impact is hard to estimate, and guesses range widely.

However, by Stage 4 the shortage is equivalent to nearly the full installed generating capacity of the giant Medupi power station – which it is now estimated will cost R18 billion to complete.

At Stage 5 Eskom is unable to supply as much electricity as South Africa has committed to buying from the giant Inga 3 hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo – after doubling its initial offtake intention – and at Stage 6 the rationing is the equivalent of all the power Ethiopia hopes to generate by harnessing the Blue Nile.

Stage 7 sheds as much electricity as all South Africa’s initial 47 independent producers of renewable energy produced.

At Stage 8, Eskom estimates, that the average South African will be supplied with power for 50% of the time, with connections turned off for 12 hours out of every 24.