Today Eskom releases its 264th update on the state of the power system. Eskom’s system status bulletin is released twice a week in line with its commitment to regular and transparent communication on the power system, which is expected to be constrained for the foreseeable future.

The system is expected to be extremely constrained over evening peak for tonight, as well as for the next few days as cooler weather is forecasted from the weekend onwards.We urge customers to reduce their electricity usage especially in the early evening (17:30 to 18:30) as the power grid is expected to be under severe pressure during this time.

Eskom calls on all consumers to pull together to help beat the peak over the next few months by using electricity sparingly particularly from 5pm to 9pm. We request all electricity customers to save at least 10% of their electricity usage and sustain these savings. Residential and commercial customers can make the biggest difference by switching off geysers and pool pumps during peak hours (5pm – 9pm); switching off non-essential lights; using space-heating efficiently and responding to the Power Alerts messages.



Trends in the supply and demand of power in South Africa are as follows:

Today (Thursday 24 July): The capacity available to meet this evening’s peak demand is 34 600 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 34 156 MW. Current planned maintenance stands at 2 800 MW. Unplanned outages are 5 200 MW.

The demand in electricity tends to decrease from Friday, going into the weekend. The capacity available from Friday, through to Sunday, is therefore expected to meet forecast demand as follows (please note that these are estimates and will likely differ from the actual figures):

Tomorrow (Friday 25 July): The capacity available to meet tomorrow’s evening peak demand is 35 923 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 31 971 MW.

Saturday (26 July): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 36 516 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 31 836 MW.

Sunday (27 July): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 36 516 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 32 247 MW.

Demand in electricity is expected to increase again from next week, leaving little cushioning should anything unexpected occur, according to forecasts. We urge customers to reduce their electricity usage especially in the early evening (17:30 to 18:30) to alleviate the pressure on the system. Peak demand and available capacity for the rest of this week is forecast at (please note that these are estimates and will likely differ from the actual figures):

Monday (28 July): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 36 516 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 34 335 MW.

Tuesday (29 July): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 35 805 MW (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 34 448 MW. 

Wednesday (30 July): The capacity available to meet that evening’s peak demand is 36 020 (including open cycle gas turbines) while demand is forecast 34 319 MW.