Power utility Eskom says that the new regulations for load shedding are proposing room for 16 stages of load shedding, MyBroadband reports.
This aligns with the National Rationalized Specifications (NRS) Association’s proposals put forward in March 2023.
The association confirmed last week (5 May) that it is finalizing the regulations – NRS 048-9, Edition 3 – with energy regulator Nersa.
The NRS is a voluntary forum of organizations that was formed to collaborate and develop voluntary industry specifications to standardize equipment specifications across the South African Electricity Supply Industry.
The group established the NRS 048-9 regulations to assist the national System Operator and power utilities in managing power supply through load shedding and created the stages of rolling blackouts that South Africans are now all too familiar with.
When the first edition of the NRS048-9 code was established in 2010, load shedding stages were capped at Stage 4 – representing 25% of the base load – requiring utilities to “find” electricity load under emergency conditions.
According to the NRS, ‘finding’ electricity with 75% of the load not being used was reasonably straightforward. However, attempting to do so beyond Stage 4 was not easy.
The need for Stage 6 load shedding in 2019 prompted the NRS 048-9 Work Group to consider extending the load shedding stages to manage load shedding to Stage 8 (Edition 2).
In Stage 8 half the electricity load is shed, and the other half is waiting to be shed, it said. Under these conditions, it is generally much harder to “find” electricity load, it said.
Given the deterioration of Eskom’s grid and energy availability, it has now become prudent to plan even further ahead.
The group said the final NRS 048-9 Edition 3 will now provide a methodology for utilities to reduce the whole load base in a structured way.
Ostensibly, this would provide for 16 stages of load shedding, although this could be different when the final regulations are published.
Speaking to MyBroadband, however, Eskom has confirmed that 16 stages of load shedding are being proposed in the latest edition.
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