CSIR says more load shedding in September than entire 2020
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says South Africa recorded more load shedding in September this year, than it did in across the year 2020.
Researchers have found that the rolling blackouts grew more intense this year.
They have collated stats for their power generation report.
The report, which focuses on the first half of 2022, shows that Eskom's fleet energy availability factor continued to fall this year with an average EAF of 59.4%, compared to the EAF of 61.7% last year and 65% for 2020.
This is largely due to the increase in unplanned power interruptions, blamed on a loss of capacity.
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The council's principal researcher Warrick Pierce says load shedding in the first half of 2022 was roughly ten times worse than the stage 6 power cuts we had in 2019.
"This year overtook 2021 as the most load shedding intensive year yet concentrated in the year of July and September.
"September is actually the most intensive load shedding month every recorded. The collective in the three months of Juy to September 2022 had more load shedding than any year before.
"This year, stage 6 load shedding far surpassed 2019. It is interesting to note for the first year, the nominated stage was not stage 2 but stage 4."
