Eskom’s National Control Manager has indicated that the winter period could bring a worst-case scenario wherein South Africa could see up to 100 days of load shedding. That is the worst possible outcome, but it is difficult to predict load shedding to that extent but the consensus from Eskom is there will be load shedding this winter. Their predictions are based on unplanned outage thresholds.
Early winter has already been difficult for Eskom’s generators. Eskom reported that heavy rains in KwaZulu-Natal had worsened system outages, leading to our latest round of load shedding. So, the chances are there for a grim winter further despite the winter months historically being good for generation units.
To help this the Department of Energy has opened the sixth window for private renewable energy bidders. This means that by the end of 2023 there will be additional capacity added to the grid. This would hopefully remove some of the pressure on the power utility.
Regardless of if it’s worst-case scenario or an ideal scenario, there is going to be more load shedding coming our way this winter. While the Sun is still out in full force now might be a good time to make a move to solar power, to get an optimized system before the Sun is less available.
And if you need guidance in picking a solar power system or installing one, Connected House is the perfect place for you! We are experts in all things solar and are connected to a variety of other specialists.
If it’s solar we can help!
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