After a difficult week of loadshedding at stages five and six, Eskom has announced that loadshedding will be rolled out at reduced stages at the weekend.
Stage three kicks off at 5am on Saturday.
This after Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced at a media briefing earlier in the week that reprieve was on the way.
In a statement on Friday, Eskom said reduced loadshedding is due to the recovery of some generation units while planned maintenance is still under way.
“The further reduction in the stages of loadshedding in the coming weekend is due to the expected additional generation recovery, improved emergency generation reserves, and lower weekend demand,” said Eskom.
The power utility added that its teams are working to return the affected generating units to service. Eskom’s load forecast for the evening peak demand is 28 536MW.
Stage five loadshedding starts at 5pm on Friday until 5am on Saturday. Thereafter, stage three loadshedding will be implemented until 4pm followed by stage four until 5am on Sunday.
“We appeal to members of the public to continue reducing demand by switching off non-essential appliances,” Eskom said.
“We would like to thank those who do heed the call to use electricity sparingly and efficiently, including switching off geysers and pool pumps from 17:00 to 21:00, as this lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system and contributes to lower stages of loadshedding.
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