As South Africa continues to be plunged by rolling blackouts, Eskom has introduced a pilot project of load limiting. But what exactly is load limiting?
On June 23, Eskom launched its pilot project in Fourways in Johannesburg and its spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena said this project is part of the power utility’s Demand Side Management Programme.
She said it was a part of Eskom’s strategy to manage the winter supply.
The pilot project will be affecting households with smart meters during Stages 1 and 4 load shedding.
Mokwena said load limiting will take place during load shedding and residents have been advised to follow their load shedding schedules.
How does it work?
Before your scheduled load shedding, Eskom will send an SMS to limit your load.
Limiting your load means switching off some appliances, mainly appliances that use more electricity such as geysers, stoves, pool pumps and washing machines.
Appliances such as fridges, lights, televisions, computers and wifi routers can be left on.
“Through load limiting measures during stages 1 to 4 of load shedding, customers’ electricity capacity will be reduced from 60/80 Amps to 10 Amps,” Eskom said.
“This will allow customers to continue to use essential appliances with a reduced capacity of up to 10 Amps.”
If load shedding is scheduled for your area and you haven’t switched off the high-intensive appliances you will experience load shedding.
However, an opportunity is granted for you to switch off the appliances. The smart meter will be routed to recode over 30-second periods, and should the appliances be off, the minimal usage of appliances such as lights and internet will be able to be used during load shedding.
Mokwena said this is aimed at lightening the burden of households sitting in the dark and assisting those who may be working from home.
This is also an attempt to curb crime during load shedding periods.
The power utility said the roll out of the project will be phased per residential area and urged customers to look out for this communication regarding recoding and when it will be available.
If meters are not recoded, they will become inactive after November 2024.
“There is no cost to the customer for recoding their meter. Should anyone request payment for this service, customers are advised to immediately report it to SAPS or Eskom.”
The power utility currently has stages 2 and 4 load shedding in effect.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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