Grab on to those solar panels, we’re now in it for the long haul. Most of you would have likely experienced load shedding yesterday, as Stage 1 was declared and then later Stage 2, and now Stage 3. The higher the stage, the more trouble Eskom is in trying to balance the load:
- Stage 1 allows for up to 1000 MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 2 allows for up to 2000 MW of the national load to be shed.
- Stage 3 allows for up to 4000 MW of the national load to be shed.
Energy experts are saying that we should get used to Stage 3 load-shedding for the next few years. It has been reported that even if Eskom receives a government bailout of R3m, it still won’t cover diesel costs. Eish.
It is unclear if load-shedding will be implemented today as the cause of yesterday’s blackouts were the two generators that broke down, causing us to plunge into rolling darkness. It doesn’t appear likely to happen today, but this could change at a moment’s notice according to Eskom.
Refer to the interactive loadshedding guide for February for more information.
Photography BDlive