Well, at least it’s not Stage 15. A leading market expert has publicly stated that Eskom could enforce Stage 8 load shedding ‘between October and November’, due to the challenges facing its power generation networks. Experts also believe that Eskom hasn’t been entirely truthful about its load shedding schedules – Photo: iStock Stage 8 load…

 

Well, at least it’s not Stage 15. A leading market expert has publicly stated that Eskom could enforce Stage 8 load shedding ‘between October and November’, due to the challenges facing its power generation networks.

Experts also believe that Eskom hasn’t been entirely truthful about its load shedding schedules September has been a gruesome month for those battling to keep the lights on. Stage 6 outages have been enforced for prolonged periods, and the current load shedding cycle is set to persist into next week. Quite literally, there is little-to-no light at the end of the tunnel.

Earlier this week, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter did very little to calm our nerves. During his most recent address, the top executive floated the idea of Stage 15 power cuts – which would allegedly be enforced if the utility ‘failed to transition towards cleaner energy production’.

The stark threat caught many of us off-guard. That’s largely because the highest planned phase on Eskom’s roster is Stage 8 load shedding. However, what once seemed a distant nightmare could soon become a jarring reality for us all.

Although, compared to the mythical ‘Stage 15’ and the ‘worst-case scenario’ of a TOTAL BLACKOUT, Stage 8 load shedding could be the best of a bad bunch. The fact that’s even a consideration, however, shows just how far standards have fallen in this country.

Peter Attard Montalto is the Head of Capital Markets for Intellidex. He is now convinced that Stage 8 blackouts are unavoidable. He believes October and November will be tough months for Eskom, and new generation projects will only come into effect next year.

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“I think the real challenge is to manage expectations. We’re going to see prolonged periods of most likely Stage 6 and Stage 8 load shedding between October and November and again around February – before we start seeing the new generation really coming on stream.”

“There is a lot going on in the long-term but in the short-term we’re going to have to manage expectations very carefully. It’s going to get a lot worse. Eskom has very little cash in the buffer, so at the end of the day, someone is going to pay for this.” | Peter Attard Montalto