Stage-6 load shedding

Eskom said an already constrained electricity system was being brought to its knees by unlawful and unprotected industrial action at several power stations.

How suburbs and towns are affected by every stage depends on a range of factors, including what time of day the electricity emergency is declared. Here is what the different stages of load shedding mean. - Here is what the different stages of load shedding mean.

Eskom has warned South Africans of possible Stage 6 power cuts from 5 pm on Tuesday.

“We find ourselves in Stage 4 already. Speaking during an urgent media briefing on Tuesday morning where Eskom was giving an update on the power grid, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said it is necessary to warn the public that Stage 6 could be implemented from 5 pm on Tuesday afternoon due to a breakdown of power plants and the ongoing “unlawful industrial action” by Eskom workers. Currently, the country is on Stage 4 load shedding.

Power utility Eskom has warned that it may have to implement Stage 6 load-shedding from this evening, following a deterioration in its generation capacity ...

De Ruyter added that, as staff have had to be diverted from doing maintenance to keeping power plants running, the backlog in maintenance was also growing. They also urged striking employees to consider the impact of the unlawful and illegal strike action on the country's population, as well as the economy, and to return to work. Eskom is planning to return a further four units to service ahead of the evening peak, while a further four will not be able to return to service on Tuesday as they require prolonged repairs.

South Africans can expect more hours of load shedding tonight as the power utility, Eskom announced that the possibility of stage 6 tonight is highly ...

Eskom has just revealed that it could possibly ramp up the power cuts to Stage 6 load shedding from this afternoon.

What does this mean for you? We have had a significant deterioration overnight. “We find ourselves in Stage 4 already.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says there was a significant deterioration in supply overnight. File photo. Image: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko.

At Kriel, we have seen peaceful protesting but we have seen no resources for ash and dust handling and no plant operators. As a result, load-shedding was on Friday ramped up to stage 4 and Eskom said it would continue until Wednesday. However, the power utility previously warned the load-shedding stage could increase or decrease at short notice. “At Arnot [power station], we have no bargaining unit employees available and we are running with our managerial staff. The recovery is going to take time.” On Friday Eskom was granted a court order stopping the unprotected strike at nine power stations and facilities. It may be split by two hours or three hours,” Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer said.

Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter said the power utility was working to restore capacity to power stations to mitigate the "very real risk" of Stage 6 load shedding ...

We hope four can be returned by the evening, although we will not have the benefits of that restoration," said Oberholzer. De Ruyter said the entity was working double time to avoid the worsening of load shedding through the day. Oberholzer said, with appropriate responses, Eskom could avoid stage 6 load shedding on Tuesday evenign and remain on stage 4. Eskom said the loss of further capacity overnight at the utility's operations heightened the risk that stage 6 load shedding would be implemented. Eskom management will hold an urgent and confidential meeting with labour later in the morning. [that were lost] and as a result it has become necessary to implement stage 6 load shedding at peak tonight," said De Ruyter.

Stage 6 load shedding is a real possibility during the peak period on Tuesday evening after Eskom lost 10 generating units overnight, Eskom CEO Andre de ...

The utility is however facing a shortage of operators due to the strike. At the time of the briefing the tanks at Ankerlig near Cape Town were at 47% with limited volumes available in the country to replenish it. It will be a challenge to do that while protecting the utility’s going concern status. He said the power system was recovering well on Monday and Eskom still needs to understand what exactly happened during the night. The current situation follows Eskom’s move a week ago to declare a dispute after wage negotiations deadlocked. A vessel was only expected over the weekend.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that the grid was under pressure as the strike by some of its staff continues at power plants.

For the month of June to date we have already consumed 85 million litres of diesel," De Ruyter said. We have capacity available, at this stage, forecast for 27,124 MW and that of course creates the shortfall in generation capacity," De Ruyter said. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that the grid was under pressure as the strike by some of its staff continues at power plants.

The South African power utility implemented stage 4 load-shedding after “unlawful industrial action” at some of its power stations in the past few days. The ...

However, should it reach that point it means that the power could be out for 6 hours during the day. The South African power utility implemented stage 4 load-shedding after “unlawful industrial action” at some of its power stations in the past few days. Numsa alleged that the power utility walked out during talks to find a resolution.

Power utility Eskom has warned that it may have to implement Stage 6 load-shedding from this evening, following a deterioration in its generation capacity ...

De Ruyter added that, as staff have had to be diverted from doing maintenance to keeping power plants running, the backlog in maintenance was also growing. Eskom is planning to return a further four units to service ahead of the evening peak, while a further four will not be able to return to service on Tuesday as they require prolonged repairs. On Monday morning, Eskom had warned that it may have to implement Stage 6 load-shedding from this evening, following a deterioration in its generation capacity overnight.

Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter says the power utility could be forced to introduce stage 6 load shedding on Tuesday evening (28 June) due to a…

- City of Ekurhuleni - City of Johannesburg Stage 6 doubles the frequency of stage 3, which means outages will be scheduled over four-day periods for four hours at a time.

This is due to the unlawful and unprotected labour action, which has caused widespread disruption to Eskom's power plants, the power utility said in a statement ...

From 05:00 until 16:00 on Wednesday, load shedding will be implemented at Stage 4. "This has compelled Eskom to continue taking precautionary measures to conserve generation capacity and safeguard plants from damage. Stage 4 load shedding will then be implemented from 22:00 to 00:00. Load shedding will then be reduced to Stage 2 until 05:00 on Wednesday morning.

“This is due to the unlawful and unprotected labour action, which has caused widespread disruption to Eskom's power plants,” the utility said in a statement.

This, however, is still insufficient to stave off the implementation of stage-6 load shedding for this evening and tomorrow evening,” the utility said. Stage-6 load shedding will again be implemented from 4pm to 10pm on Wednesday. Tuesday’s stage-6 load shedding will run for at least six hours, from 4pm to 10pm.

This comes after CEO Andre de Ruyter said the grid was under pressure as the strike by some of its staff continued at power plants.

Load shedding 6 will then again be implemented at 4 pm – 10 pm tomorrow evening.” Stage 4 load shedding will then be implemented at 10 pm – midnight. From 5 am until 4 pm on Wednesday load shedding will be implemented at stage 4.

Stage 6 brings a higher risk of data outages, and power spikes. Here are some tips on coping.

Cellphone operators struggle to keep their towers operational during standard bouts of load shedding, and battery systems will find it hard to cope with Stage 6. That can include music and movies; just about any decent subscription service will allow you to download at least some content for offline use, at least using their own app. You may not be able to check the status during the outage itself. Creaking municipal power systems and their under-pressure operators aren't used to Stage 6 either, so there is a greater risk of things going wrong than during good old Stage 4. Waiting times can spike suddenly, just as the family is sitting around in the dark with nothing better to do but complain that you aren't feeding them. Just remember to let the kettle stand for five minutes before you fill the hot water bottles.

The City of Cape Town says it has been building energy reserves in an effort to help reduce the impact of higher stages of Eskom's load shedding.

In the meantime, we are doing everything in our power to assist our customers and we thank them for their support.” Needless to say, stage 6 load shedding will have a profound impact on Cape Town and we are working to make sure the impact is reduced as far as possible by offering some protection from the higher stages of load shedding,” said mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. “Much work is already underway with this goal in mind – in the City’s own build, small-scale embedded generation, wheeling and independent power producer programmes.