Eskom announced in a media statement that over the course of this week, 14 generators are expected to return to service, helping to ease the pressure on the power system. Stage 4 load-shedding will take place daily from 05:00 to 16:00, and Stage 5 load-shedding will take place daily from 16:00 to 05:00.

Eskom cautions the public, however, that there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with this and that these changes will only be possible in their entirety if the units return to service as planned. Changes in the stages of loadshedding can therefore occur at short notice due to the inherent unreliability of the coal power station fleet.

A further update will be published as soon as any significant changes occur.

50 million litres of diesel

Eskom procured an additional 50 million litres of diesel on 06 January 2023. This fuel will be used sparingly to manage pumped storage dam levels and to limit loadshedding during the day. Together, these emergency generators contribute 5700MW of capacity.

A generating unit each at Kendal, Majuba and Tutuka power stations has returned to service on Monday.

The summer planned maintenance programme continues, and will taper off during the winter months, helping to make more capacity available to produce electricity. There are currently 12 generators out for planned maintenance, representing 5804MW of capacity.

Breakdowns currently amount to 16 173MW of generating capacity.

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