South Africans should prepare for a possibility of the worst blackout since the start of load shedding. Due to mounting demand, load shedding up to stage 16 or an undetermined 32 hours of power cutbacks, is expected in order to prevent the grid from completely collapsing. The National Regulatory Services Association of SA, a voluntary organisation assisting with load shedding regulation, is currently finalising a document titled “voluntary” NRS048-9 edition 3, which would in unforeseeable emergency circumstances allow Eskom to implement drastic load shedding beyond stage 8.
Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena confirmed the document and stated that its principles would only be applied in the event of situations that threaten to bring down the grid, which might happen during the winter. Municipalities and regulators, as well as energy providers like Eskom, make up the NRS membership. When questioned about whether the nation should prepare for worst-case situations, such as the potential for the electricity grid to completely fail and necessitate load shedding above stage 8, Mokwena responded that the grid’s security could not be guaranteed. The current system, she stated , “does not show that we can go to that stage based on what we are seeing in terms of how the system is behaving.” Former group executive in Eskom’s generation division and current chair of the NRS management committee Vally Padayachee has defended load shedding as required to avoid the disastrous effects of a blackout caused by complete grid collapse due to potential future excessive demand.
The National Energy Regulator of SA has not yet received the draft paper from NRS for “legal mandating consideration”. The license, which will be valid for all energy companies, including Eskom and municipalities, will become a legal document once it has been authorised. According to Mokwena, this paper permitted the implementation of load shedding up to stage 16. Charles Hlebela, a spokesman for Nersa, declined to comment.
Ramaphosa promised the country on Thursday that load shedding would end shortly while responding to questions in Parliament. To prevent going over stage 9 during the winter, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa painted a bleak picture of how Eskom was handling load shedding during a news conference on Friday. He noted that Eskom’s generation units were often failing.
