---
title: "A five-slide guide to why the lights are more on than off"
description: "Relief! Here’s how load shedding intensity has been reduced, plus five slides to make you smile ahead of the long weekend. Load shedding has been less intense than it has been in a very long time. This week, the grid has been at Stage 3 or Stage 4, and been suspended for short times. The slides show why."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "WATT THE F#*K"
author: "Ferial Haffajee"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/ferialhaffajee/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-15-a-five-slide-guide-to-why-the-lights-are-more-on-than-off/"
published: "2023-06-15T17:29:00"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 248
---

# A five-slide guide to why the lights are more on than off

> Relief! Here’s how load shedding intensity has been reduced, plus five slides to make you smile ahead of the long weekend. Load shedding has been less intense than it has been in a very long time. This week, the grid has been at Stage 3 or Stage 4, and been suspended for short times. The slides show why.

By Ferial Haffajee · Published 15 June 2023, 19:29 SAST

## Key points
- From Eskom's maintenance to private sector support teams, President Ramaphosa's energy cap lift to wheeling new energy on the grid, and business-government partnerships bringing key skills to power stations, it looks like South Africa is powering up for a brighter future.
- Eskom is doing less maintenance in winter
- President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to lift the energy cap on private generation is working
- 1,300MW could come onto the grid this year and 3,081MW next year
- Businesses have sent engineers, project managers and other key skills to power stations that need them

## Content

The first slide shows that **Eskom is doing less maintenance** – a usual practice in winter. Demand is lower (probably because so many humans and businesses have left the grid). Private sector support teams are in place at power stations. And Eskom is going solar. This is a good-news slide.

![Slide showing that Eskom is doing less maintenance – a usual practice in winter.](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/unnamed-1.png)

The second slide shows that **President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to lift the energy cap** on private generation is working. Look at the jump in energy projects this year. It’s an unstoppable energy revolution (other than, of course, the thorny issue of grid access). See next slide.

![Slide 2: shows that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to lift the energy cap on private generation is working.](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/unnamed-1-1.png)

So, this year **1,300MW could come on to the grid** and 3,081MW next year. In terms we will understand, that is four stages of load shedding. As I said last week, our hell has an end. The chart on the right shows grid capacity. The long journey now is how to wheel the new energy on to the grid.

![Image](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/unnamed-2.png)

This slide maps renewable projects. What I enjoyed seeing is that **Eskom is working with the renewables sector.** Great news.

![Image](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/unnamed-3.png)

This slide is technical, but its core meaning is that the **death choke of bureaucracy is being loosened**. Timeframes have been brought forward.

![Image](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/unnamed-4.png)

This is a clip from the business-government energy partnership. **Businesses have sent engineers, project managers and other key skills** to power stations that need them.

![Image](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/unnamed7.jpeg)

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