Load shedding moved up to stage 4

Load shedding has moved to stage 4 this afternoon, after the Koeberg unit 1 tripped.

“The unit has been disconnected from the grid due to a fault on the turbine side. However, the nuclear reactor remains safe.

“The teams are investigating the root causes of the fault and will advise on the remedy as soon as it is established,” Eskom said.

The loss of the approximately 930MW unit puts further strain on the generation fleet, necessitating an increase in the stage of load shedding.

“As the ageing fleet is currently constrained, unpredictable and vulnerable, we advise South Africans that the stage of load shedding may change at short notice, should there be any unexpected change in the generation system performance. Demand has also incrementally risen since January.

“It is only through partnership between Eskom and all stakeholders that we may soon emerge from these difficult times.

“We urge every South African to cooperate in managing electricity consumption with care to help us minimise load shedding. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding so far,” Eskom said.

Customers are requested to continue to use electricity sparingly to assist Eskom to reduce demand.

·         Keep your morning shower short to lessen the load during morning peak.

·         Take food out of the freezer for dinner and put it in the fridge to thaw. It’ll save you using the microwave to defrost it later.

·         Set air conditioners’ average temperature at 23°C.

·         Switch off geysers over peak periods.

·         Unplug that cell phone charger before you leave the house. It uses electricity even if your phone is not plugged in.

·         Use the cold water tap rather than using the geyser every time.

·         Set your swimming pool pump cycle to run twice a day, three hours at a time.

·         At the end of the day, turn off computers, copiers, printers and fax machines at the switch.

“We appeal to customers to revisit their load shedding schedules on the Eskom website — https://loadshedding.eskom.co.za — or local municipal websites, depending on their electricity supplier, to review amendments,” Eskom said.