By early December Eskom had shed more than 6,800 hours of electricity in 2023. This is almost double the amount lost in 2022. For 8 years, stage 2 was the most common stage of loadshedding. However, 2023 saw a shift: South Africa saw 1,940 hours of stage 4 loadshedding, the most common stage. Stages 3 and 6 followed. The country only had 1,326 hours with no loadshedding. This was a drop from 4,980 in 2022.
South Africa had more hours of stage 6 loadshedding in 2023 than in any previous year. It first had stage 6 in 2019.
Eskom struggled with breakdowns, costing it a third of its generation in 2023. 9 years ago, breakdowns affected just over a tenth of its generation.
In May South Africa imported over 880MW of solar panels from China. It coincided with the month with the highest stages of loadshedding.