Power utility Eskomrealised South Africans’ worst fear on Friday when it confirmed that Stage 3 load shedding would be implemented at 17:00 and will run for the weekend – or until further notice.
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Eskom claimed that it has been hit by a ‘perfect storm’ of incidents that have brought outages back.
The planned load shedding ended a period of nearly 11 months without South Africa going dark.
Eskom added that the risk of an escalation to Stage 4 remains – if more units trip or there are significant delays – but the current outlook is that Stage 3 will be maintained.
Watch this space!
The utility said that it experienced several breakdowns at its power stations that required it to use its reserves.
However, by Friday, the reserves were used up and it needed to replenish them, putting the grid at risk.
Sceptical by the timing
South Africans were left sceptical by the timing of the load shedding announcement which came less than 24 hours after Eskom was denied it’s desired price hikes over the next three years – as reported by The South African website.
Eskom had requested a 36.15% tariff hike on 1 April 2025 and then increases of 11.81% (on 1 April 2026) and 9.10% on 1 April 2027.
However, National energy regulator Nersa ‘only’ granted Eskom a 12.74% hike later this year, with 5.36% and 6.19% increases been given the green light for the following two periods.
Cynics will no doubt be wondering whether it was merely coincidence that the first blackouts came mere hours after the Nersa news.
| Period | Application | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| 2025/2026 | 36.15% | 12.74% |
| 2026/2027 | 11.81% | 5.36% |
| 2027/2028 | 9.10% | 6.19% |
The ‘perfect storm’ that hit includes:
- Units were out for planned maintenance
- 6 units at key power stations broke down – 5 of which are still offline
- Other downed units were delayed in coming back online
- Eskom has been depending on its OCGTs
- The reserves have been exhausted, and the reserve margins have to be maintained
“We were under the impression that load shedding was behind us, but we have to protect the integrity of the system,” Ramokgopa said. “It’s disappointing to all of us…but the trendline is in the right direction.”
Eskom said that it would spend the weekend returning units back to power.
Breakdowns have exceeded 13 000MW, which is in line with the planned-for scenarios in its summer outlook.
Load shedding a mere coincidence 24 hours after Eskom was denied it’s requested price tariff hike?
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