Surprise! We have Loadshedding again over the Weekend?!

It is not surprising to many that we are facing load shedding once again over the weekend. The lack of prior warning from Eskom highlights their ongoing communication issues.

Eskom Implements Stage 3 Load Shedding Until Monday

Eskom has announced that Stage 3 load-shedding will begin at 14:00 on Friday and is expected to continue until 05:00 on Monday.

#PowerAlert1

Eskom implements Stage 3 loadshedding from 14:00 today and anticipates to be in this mode until Monday at 05:00, following 98% availability of power supply, due to loss of 2700MW over the past 14 hours. To replenish emergency reserves over the weekend –
ongoing… pic.twitter.com/t690tFZ24Y

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) March 7, 2025

This decision comes after a loss of 2,700 MW in generation capacity over the past 14 hours, leaving the power grid at only 98% availability.

In a statement issued on Friday, Eskom explained that the unplanned generation losses include Koeberg Unit 2, which was taken offline shortly after being restored on Wednesday, as well as two units at Kusile that experienced operational disruptions due to adverse weather conditions affecting coal supply.

#LoadShedding Stage 3
7 March 2025

14:00 -16:30 1, 5, 9
16:00 -18:30 2, 6, 10
18:00 -20:30 3, 7, 11
20:00 -22:30 4, 8, 12
22:00 -00:30 5, 9, 13

— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) March 7, 2025

The utility also emphasized that planned maintenance outages remain high as part of their winter readiness efforts and to comply with regulatory and environmental requirements. To stabilize the grid, Eskom is deploying additional resources to expedite repairs and anticipates restoring 6,200 MW of capacity by Monday evening peak time.

Important information:

Every stage includes the stages before them, i.e. stage 4 includes stages 1, 2,3, and 4.

Stage 1 requires 1000MW,
Stage 2 requires 2000MW,
Stage 3 requires 3000MW,
Stage 4 calls for 4000MW,
Stage 5 calls for 5000MW,
Stage 6 calls for 6000MW,
Stage 7 calls for 7000MW,
Stage 8 calls for 8000MW to load shed nationally at a given period rotationally. Load Shedding is conducted rotationally as a measure of last resort to protect the power system.

Eskom continues to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electrical appliances to assist in reducing demand.