Load shedding returns to South Africa
South Africa experienced load shedding for the first time in more than 10 months over the weekend. State-owned utility Eskom cut up to 3 GW of capacity under “Stage 3” load shedding from 17:00 on Jan. 31 to 06:00 on Feb. 2.
Eskom Group Chief Executive Dan Marokane said last week that multiple breakdowns had caused the load shedding, forcing extended repairs and depleting emergency reserves, which then needed replenishment.
Eskom said on the weekend that sufficiency emergency reserves had been reached, bringing an end to the temporary outage.
Load shedding has plagued South Africa since 2007, driven by electricity demand exceeding supply and worsened by the country’s reliance on coal-fired plants prone to breakdowns and repairs.
This was the first instance since late March 2024, as the country works toward eliminating the outages entirely. Shifting South Africa’s energy mix to include more solar and wind generation is considered a key way of addressing the issue.
SAPVIA CEO Rethabile Melamu told pv magazine in a statement that the load shedding had been a “sad setback.” However, Melamu added that it is important to acknowledge the hard work and collaboration that is going toward preventing further instances.
“The trend lines are moving in the right direction and we are close to seeing an end to load shedding. Our power picture looks a lot better thanks to dedicated action on the part of the Government and other stakeholders,” Melamu said. “I call on all stakeholders and roleplayers to remain committed to finally ending load shedding permanently. We need to fully utilize the contribution that solar solutions can make for our goal of an energy secure future, one that is resilient and growing.”
In January, Melamu told pv magazine that South Africa added around 1.1 GW of solar in 2024, with forecasts predicting that deployment will accelerate over the next couple of years.
Customized/OEM/ODM Service
HomSolar Supports Lifepo4 battery pack customization/OEM/ODM service, welcome to contact us and tell us your needs.
HomSolar: Your One-stop LiFePO4 Battery Pack & ESS Solution Manufacturer
Our line of LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries offer a solution to demanding applications that require a lighter weight, longer life, and higher capacity battery. Features include advanced battery management systems (BMS), Bluetooth® communication and active intelligent monitoring.
Customised Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Casing
ABS plastic housing, aluminium housing, stainless steel housing and iron housing are available, and can also be designed and customised according to your needs.
HomSolar Smart BMS
Intelligent Battery Management System for HomSolar Energy Storage System. Bluetooth, temperature sensor, LCD display, CAN interface, UART interface also available.
Terminals & Plugs Can Be Customized
A wide range of terminals and plugs can be customised to suit the application needs of your battery products.
Well-designed Solutions for Energy Storage Systems
We will design the perfect energy storage system solution according to your needs, so that you can easily solve the specific industry applications of battery products.
About Our Battery Cells
Our energy storage system products use brand new grade A LiFePO4 cells with a battery lifespan of more than 4,000 charge/discharge cycles.
Applications in Different Industries
We supply customized & OEM battery pack, assemble cells with wiring, fuse and plastic cover, all the cell wires connected to PCB plug or built BMS.
Applications: E-bike, Electric Scooter, Golf Carts, RV, Electric Wheelchair, Electric Tools, Robot Cleaner, Robot Sweeper, Solar Energy Storage System, Emergency Light, Solar Power Light, Medical Equipment, UPS Backup Power Supply.
We can provide you with customized services. We have the ability to provide a vertical supply chain, from single cells to pack/module and to a complete power solution with BMS, etc.
HomSolar (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd
