Lights out until further notice — What Stage 16 load-shedding will look like in South Africa

The National Rationalised Specifications (NRS) Association describes stage 16 load-shedding as a controlled system shutdown at the customer end, with continuous power cuts around the clock.
This is according to the latest revision of the load-shedding Code of Practice, which the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved and published in early April 2024.
The document contains guidelines for implementing load-shedding up to stage 16, developed by experts from Eskom, the Energy Intensive User Group, metros, and the regulator itself, among others.
It expands the guidelines outlined in the previous edition of the code to provide for load-shedding up to stage 16 instead of stage 8.
The code aims to help Eskom and municipal distributors mitigate the impact of high load-shedding stages while preventing a grid collapse.
Supplementary documentation published alongside the new Code of Practice — specifically Annexure E — contains charts outlining the severity of rotational power cuts under stage 9 to stage 16 load-shedding.
It shows that stage 16 load-shedding is a controlled grid shutdown, with no electricity supplied to Eskom’s consumers.
Stages 9 to 11 use a combination of six and four-hour load-shedding sessions, with stage 12 comprising six-hour slots.
Power cuts intensify even further from stage 13, with eight-hour load-shedding slots introduced to the rotation.
On this stage, separate load-shedding slots which previously had breaks turn into continuous power cuts.
In stage 12 load-shedding and lower, every load-shedding session has some form of break where power will be available.
However, stages 13 to 16 combine six and eight-hour slots into 14 or 16-hour sessions.
Under stage 15 load-shedding, South Africans will be subject to almost around-the-clock load-shedding, with a one or two-hour break at the start and end of the cycle.
Stage 16 eradicates these breaks, leaving users without electricity for the entire cycle when this level of load-shedding is in effect.
As is currently the case, Eskom’s System Operator will instruct distributors and municipalities on which stage of load-shedding to implement.
The System Operator is responsible for ensuring the stability of South Africa’s electricity grid.
Nersa approved the latest revision to the load-shedding Code of Practice in early April, following the NRS Association’s submission of the document in May 2023.
This came after Eskom proposed guidelines up to stage 16 to ensure that load-shedding beyond Stage 8 is carried out effectively if required.
“The NRS048-9 Revision 2 describes load-shedding stages up to stage 8 and obligates all network operators (distributors and municipalities) to develop, publish and implement these schedules when instructed to do so by the System Operator,” said Eskom.
“Beyond stage 8, the System Operator will instruct each province to reduce by a fixed [megawatt] amount.”
“NRS048-9 Revision 3 proposes load-shedding schedules up to stage 16 in order to make load-shedding systematic and orderly,” it added.
Eskom proposed the guidelines after NRS chair Vally Padayachee revealed that his organisation had updated the code to include stages beyond stage 8.
Speaking during an interview regarding concerns that South Africa might have entered stage 9 load-shedding in winter last year, Padayachee said the update was essential.
“Then [before the new rules] the System Operator and municipal electricity distributors would have to use their own respective operating procedures to protect the national grid,” said Padayachee.
“In that environment, the propensity for human error is very possible.”

source:https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/532197-lights-out-until-further-notice-what-stage-16-load-shedding-will-look-like.html

Natalie