City-supplied customers partly protected from current load-shedding
10 July 2020
Most of the City of Cape Town-supplied customers are being load shed on Stage 1 until 22:00 today, 10 July 2020. Eskom announced the implementation of Stage 2 load-shedding earlier but the City is able to protect its customers from one stage of load-shedding due to the deployment of its Steenbras Hydro Pump Station in the off peak times and its gas turbines to assist where at all possible. The City will communicate any further changes to Eskom's power supply as soon as we receive word from Eskom, which could be at short notice. City customers are advised to check the load-shedding schedule on www.capetown.gov.za.
The City has deployed extra generation capacity from its Steenbras Hydro Power Plant and will fire up its gas turbines where possible today to mitigate load-shedding. Demand is high due to the cold weather and we advise our customers to please reduce energy usage and switch off electrical appliances to avoid damage from power surges when the electricity comes back on. The situation is being monitored closely.
‘The massive maintenance work on the City’s Steenbras Hydro Pump Station has been completed successfully in time for the increased winter energy demand. Three of the four generation units have been returned to service. Due to the increased winter demand and lack of generation capacity from Eskom, the City is using the Steenbras plant primarily at the moment to manage the City’s higher winter demand during the day and off-peak hours. This is helping to mitigate load-shedding somewhat. We are also deploying our gas turbines to reduce the impact of load-shedding on the lower levels especially during the peak hours and given the very cold weather. The City is monitoring the situation closely, and we continue to encourage our customers and residents to please reduce energy usage especially during the peak times in the evenings,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.
Adopt smarter energy use habits in the home:
Turn off the geyser and only turn it on an hour or two as required per day.
Turn the geyser down to 60°C. Turning your geyser down from 70˚C to 60˚C will see a 5% reduction in your hot water electricity bill.
Use less hot water.
Shower instead of bathing. You will save up to 80% in water and use five times less electricity than heating bath water if you take a short shower.
Dry your laundry using sunshine where possible and try not to use the tumble dryer. For rainy days, use drying racks indoors.
Replace regular bulbs with energy-saving ones such as LEDs that use six times less electricity.
Seal gaps around windows and doors to keep heat from escaping and cold drafts from breezing in.
When you switch off appliances at the wall, you could save up to 6% more electricity. Pull out the charger from the wall too, this adds to your savings.
Use a stove plate that’s most similar to the size of your pot. An electric stove uses up to 40% of its heat when the pot is too small, which means you waste electricity. If you own an insulation cooker, bring your food to a boil then place it in there. The retained heat slow-cooks, saving up to 60% on energy.
Use warm water bottles instead of electric blankets.
For more information on how to reduce usage, please visit www.savingelectricity.org.za
Reduce risk of nuisance tripping
Residents are encouraged to reduce the risk and occurrence of nuisance tripping by switching off appliances, including geysers, air conditioners and pool pumps prior to load-shedding and leaving one light on to indicate the return of the supply.
If customers experience an outage at an unscheduled time, or the electricity supply remains off for longer than the period specified in the schedule, please SMS the details to the City’s Technical Operations Centre on 31220.
Please continue to follow the City of Cape Town on Facebook and Twitter for Eskom load-shedding alerts. City-supplied customers will be directed to the City’s website on www.capetown.gov.za for updates. Eskom customers should visit www.loadshedding.eskom.co.za
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
