And by “it”, I mean the first day (24 hour period, midnight to midnight) for us with no loadshedding this year?
It’s definitely a lot longer than that as well, given that we had a very loadsheddy end to 2022, but I don’t have the figures to hand.
Of course, there is actual loadshedding elsewhere, but we are unaffected – as yet. Last time they tried to do this, everything broke down halfway through the day and we ended up on Stage 4 with 10 minutes notice. So let’s not count chickens, but also, let’s hope that we have a whole 24 hours of uninterrupted electricity supply.
But why is this possible? Well, no-one seems very sure, but it’s “lower expected demand” [sic] and fewer broken generation units, apparently:
(If you’re reading from overseas, you’ll likely be looking at the above wondering WTF any of it actually means, but we’re well used to deciphering this sort of language now.)
And why fewer broken generation units? Well, no-one seems very sure. The installation of a new Minister of Electricity, the departure of the CEO of Eskom, and some minor party threatening violence on the streets of SA tomorrow are being touted as the reasons, but none of those could miraculously fix years and years of decay, corruption and lack of investment. So maybe it’s good fortune or – more likely – a lack of sabotage. But why a lack of sabotage?
Well, no-one seems very sure.
It’s all rather confusing, very welcome, and probably completely unsustainable.