Photo by: Duane Daws
Eskom announced on Wednesday that it will implement stage 2 load-shedding from 16:00 today, which is likely to continue until 22:00 this evening.
"This is due to increased electricity demand and a shortage of generation capacity resulting from technical faults at some of our units," the power utility said.
Over the past three days, Eskom has had to implement load-shedding mainly due to a sharp increase in electricity demand in the evenings. On Monday, electricity demand reached a high of 35 274 MW from an average demand of 33 000 MW, according to Eskom.
How to save up to 3 000 MW
Switching off energy intensive appliances such as electric geysers and pool pumps could save 2 940 MW and reduce the chance of load-shedding, said Eskom.
"With the winter chill enveloping most parts of the country, space heating will become the second highest cost-pusher of an average household’s electricity bill," Eskom said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Space heating and the geyser constitute 55% of an average household’s energy usage per month, with the geyser being responsible for 39% of the electricity costs," the utility said.
"If everyone were to switch off energy intensive appliances such as electric geysers and pool pumps during high electricity usage times between 17:00 and 21:00, this could save up to 2 940 MW, and avoid the implementation of load-shedding.
"This is enough to free up five units of a six-pack power station and power three cities the size of Durban, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein."