City customers are often the most protected in South Africa when there is Eskom load-shedding.
Sometimes, City customers are the only ones in the country not being load-shed at all, or who are at the lower levels of load-shedding, where it is possible to do so.
Spare power
It is all about how much power the City can pump through our Steenbras Hydro Pump Station to replenish power reserves overnight, if the water conditions of the dam are suitable; and through the use of one Steenbras unit held specifically to assist customers with a stage of load-shedding, if possible.
- At night if there is no load-shedding, we typically pump to replenish power reserves to assist customers the next day. It’s a tough choice about when in the day we apply reserves (day or night) to limit the impact of load-shedding on customers and livelihoods.
- It’s simply impossible to pump to replenish power reserves and to load-shed at the same time, which sometimes limits the contingency measures.
Eskom’s new non-stop way of load-shedding
A big change has happened: Over the last few months, Eskom’s load-shedding does not stop in the late hours of the night anymore, but continues, non-stop. Previously, at night time when Eskom’s load-shedding took a time out, we could pump enough spare power for the next day. But, with non-stop load-shedding, there is limited time to replenish reserves at night.
Even so, about 80% of the time, the City still manages to provide some protection to customers from a stage of load-shedding, especially in the day and evening. We update our communication as regularly as possible to reflect how we are able to assist, if we have enough time to enable some spare power, and if usage has been lower than expected, which helps to build a bit of extra reserves.
Situation changes constantly
The power situation is constantly changing, from one hour to the next. Due to the extreme problems at Eskom, generation planning is really difficult to do. The City thanks its customers for their understanding.
This is a national South African problem, but the City does its very best to help where it can.
‘The City will continue to do its very best to reduce the impact on its customers wherever possible. We thank customers for their support and understanding during this difficult time during a pandemic, as well as the added pressure brought on by Eskom’s load-shedding, which has been extended until Saturday, 20 March 2021. This level of load-shedding is simply unsustainable. The City continues to call on National Government to expedite the processes related to independent power producers and the City remains committed to do everything in its power to reduce the heavy dependency on Eskom. We have made exciting progress in the independent power own build and procurement journey and we hope to share more details as soon as possible, but we do need legal clarity from the National Department of Mineral Resources and Energy,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.
For more information on independent power producers, visit: https://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/Dire%20Eskom%20situation%20needs%20to%20spark%20National%20Government%20to%20take%20urgent%20action%20on%20IPPsFor
Let us know if your power stays off for longer than the load-shedding schedule.
City’s service channels (please only use one channel and don’t log the same request multiple times):
SMS: 31220 (standard charges apply)
Email: power@capetown.gov.za
Online: www.capetown.gov.za/servicerequests
Be energy wise
Please continue to reduce energy usage: switch off all non-essential electrical appliances; pool pumps; air conditioners and reduce your geyser temperature.
City’s smart living resources