Load Shedding Stages and Schedules

Load-shedding stages depend on the extent of the shortage of generation capacity to meet the country’s electricity demand, with stage 1 being the least serious, and stage 8 being the most serious. Outages generally last for about 2,5 hours.

• Stage 1: Requires up to 1,000 MW of electricity to be shed and can be implemented three times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or three times over an eight-day period for 4 hours at a time.
• Stage 2: Will double the frequency of Stage 1, which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding six times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or six times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.
• Stage 3: Will increase the frequency of Stage 2 by 50 percent, which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding nine times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or nine times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.
• Stage 4: Will double the frequency of Stage 2, which means you will be scheduled for load-shedding 12 times over a four-day period for two hours at a time, or 12 times over an eight-day period for four hours at a time.