The rolling power cuts have been downgraded, Eskom said on Monday, stating that it expects to return 14 generators back to service this week, helping to ease the pressure on the power system.
“Stage-four loadshedding will be implemented at 5am to 4pm daily from Tuesday morning. Loadshedding stage five will then be implemented daily from 4pm to 5am,” Eskom said in a statement.
However, the embattled power utility cautioned that there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with its announcement, saying the changes will only be possible in their entirety if the units return to service as planned.
Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented at 05:00 – 16:00 on Tuesday, followed by Stage 5
loadshedding at 16:00 – 05:00 on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/5xGUPaKQ7d— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) January 16, 2023
Eskom procured an additional 50-million litres of diesel on January 6. It said this will be used sparingly to manage the pumped storage dam levels and limit the amount of loadshedding during the day.
The power utility further said an update will be announced as soon as any changes occur.
On Thursday last week, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa granted the cash-strapped state-owned power utility an electricity tariff increase of 18.65% that will come into effect in April, as well as a further increase of 12.74% for 2024.
This means the total electricity price increases will be over 30% in the next two years.
Eskom had initially applied for a 32% increase for the 2023/2024 financial year and an additional 9% for 2024/2025 in an attempt to recover more than R300-billion that the power utility has lost over the years.
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