No stage 16 load shedding – Eskom

MINISTER of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has commended Eskom for its recent efforts to bring the worst stages of load shedding under control.

This is as the power utility moved swiftly to dismiss reports of impending stage 16 load shedding.

The power utility said there was no imminent danger of South Africa plunging into stage 16 load shedding, following recent National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved guidelines for implementing load shedding up to stage 16.

These guidelines were first reported in May last year, with Eskom indicating that South Africans may have to brace for 16 stages of load shedding as part of new regulations by the National Rationalised Specifications (NRS).

It was reported that these regulations aligned with the NRS’S proposals put forward in March 2023, with the NRS saying it was finalising the regulations – NRS 048-9, Edition 3 – with Nersa.

The newly released guidelines will allow Eskom to implement drastic load shedding beyond stage 8. But Eskom said its operation had been improving and assured that no drastic stages of load shedding were on the cards, with stage 6 being the highest stage of load shedding implemented to date.

Nersa, however, says provisions for any eventuality should be made.

Stage 16 load shedding would see 80% of power cuts implemented, with the switch-off time seeing consumers going up to 20 hours a day without electricity. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena called for calm amid the speculation on impending stage 16 load shedding, adding that it was nothing more than guidelines which formed part of the latest revision of the Code of Practice.

“One noticeable modification over the three revisions has been the adoption and catering for higher stages of load shedding,” Mokwena said.

This has been confirmed by

Welile Mkhize, HOD of licensing and compliance at Nersa, who said: “Addition 3, which is the current code of practice which Nersa has recently approved, caters for up to level 16 or stage 16 of load shedding.

“This by no means says we are expecting or there is an imminent stage 16, but it’s simply a way of preparing the system operator in an eventuality that would require him to be able to operate the system under such conditions.

“Of course, you may be aware that the Eskom generation performance has not improved over the years, so what one wants to do at this point is to prepare for any eventuality, but by no means say we are anticipating stage 16 any time soon.”

The new guidelines allow Eskom and municipalities to mitigate the impact of higher load shedding stages and prevent grid collapse. It also empowers Eskom and electricity distributors to take emergency action if necessary.

Eskom said there was no need to worry as the grid had stabilised over time.