Energy Expert, Professor Vally Padayachee has warned that the latest developments paint a bleak picture for Eskom’s winter outlook.  

Last week, Eskom assured South Africans that the national electricity grid was stable, promising that sufficient emergency reserves would help manage increased demand during winter. However, the utility had also cautioned that if electricity demand rose, stage one or stage two rolling blackouts could be implemented.  

The current stage 2 load shedding, which runs from 16h00 to 22h00 CAT during evening peak periods, is expected to continue until Thursday. Padayachee expressed surprise at the timing, given Eskom’s recent power system update and its 2025 winter forecast.  

“Eskom did allude to the possibility of load shedding in their winter plan briefing, but I had expected it to be more of an exception than the rule,” Padayachee explained. He noted that Eskom reported between 16 000 and 17 000 megawatts of generation units returning from maintenance or forced outages, only to break down again.  

“This prognosis suggests that if these issues are already occurring in mid-May, the situation may deteriorate further as we approach the peak winter months of June and July,” he warned.  

--SABC/ChannelAfrica--