Maintenance During Load-Shedding: Protecting Equipment and Keeping Operations Running

Load-shedding has become a permanent feature of doing business in South Africa. For maintenance teams, it is not just an inconvenience — it drives equipment damage, production losses, and a backlog of deferred work that can undermine safety and reliability. Operations that treat load-shedding as a routine risk, and plan maintenance and protection around it, keep running when others stall.

This guide covers the real cost of load-shedding for maintenance teams, how to protect critical equipment, how to maintain generators and backup power, and how to keep work orders and PM schedules moving when the grid goes down — with a focus on load shedding maintenance South Africa teams can implement today.

The Real Cost of Load-Shedding for Maintenance Teams

When Eskom drops a stage or the municipal supply trips, the impact on maintenance goes far beyond a few dark hours. Understanding the full cost helps justify investment in protection, backup power, and better planning.

Equipment Damage from Power Surges and Trips

Power cuts are rarely clean. When supply returns, voltage spikes and inrush currents can damage motors, drives, and control panels. Repeated on-off cycles during load-shedding cause thermal stress: windings heat up and cool down, connections loosen, and insulation degrades faster. Soft-start and variable-speed drives can trip or fault when power is unstable. In practice, equipment that would have run for years on stable supply can fail within months under frequent load-shedding if it is not protected or maintained properly.

Production Losses and Rework

Every unplanned stoppage costs production. In mining, manufacturing, or processing, an hour of lost output can exceed the cost of a full day of planned maintenance. Restarting lines after a power cut often involves clearing jams, resetting PLCs, and re-establishing process conditions — all of which add to the maintenance workload. When the same equipment fails repeatedly because of power-related stress, the cycle of repair, restart, and failure repeats, burning labour and parts without addressing the root cause.

Backlog of Deferred Maintenance

During load-shedding, teams are often pulled onto emergency response: getting generators running, resetting tripped equipment, or supporting production restarts. Planned preventive maintenance gets postponed. Over time, PM compliance drops, backlogs grow, and the operation drifts toward reactive maintenance. That backlog is a hidden cost: when you finally do the overdue service, you often find wear or damage that could have been avoided with timely work. For load shedding maintenance South Africa operations must balance firefighting with planned work or the backlog becomes unmanageable.

Protecting Critical Equipment

Reducing damage from power cuts and reconnection starts with protection and procedure. Focus on the assets that matter most: production-critical machinery, control systems, and anything that is expensive or slow to replace.

Surge Protection

Install surge protection devices (SPDs) at the main incomer and at critical distribution boards. They divert voltage spikes to earth and limit the stress on motors, drives, and electronics when power returns. In South African conditions, where lightning and unstable grid supply are common, surge protection is a baseline for any sensitive or costly equipment.

Soft-Start and Variable-Speed Drives

Motors that start direct-on-line draw high inrush current. When the grid is weak or repeatedly switching, that inrush can cause trips, nuisance tripping of breakers, and damage to windings. Soft-start and variable-frequency drives (VFDs) limit inrush and reduce mechanical shock on the load. Ensure drive parameters are set for your supply conditions and that fault logs are checked after load-shedding events so you can correct settings or add protection where needed.

UPS for Sensitive Equipment

Control panels, PLCs, instrumentation, and IT that support maintenance (e.g. CMMS access, drawings) should be on uninterruptible power supply (UPS) where continuity matters. A UPS bridges the gap between grid failure and generator takeover, and filters out spikes and sags. Size the UPS for the load and runtime you need; maintain batteries and replace them on schedule so the UPS is ready when load-shedding hits.

Shutdown and Restart Procedures

Document and train on shutdown and restart procedures for critical plant. When load-shedding is announced, a controlled shutdown (e.g. closing valves, stopping conveyors in sequence, parking equipment safely) avoids jams, overloads, and safety risks. When power returns, a defined restart sequence prevents everyone switching on at once and overloading the supply or generator. These procedures also reduce the burden on maintenance when the lights come back on.

Checklist — Before and after load-shedding

Surge protection installed and maintained at main incomer and critical boards
Soft-start or VFD on high-inrush motors where appropriate
UPS for control systems, PLCs, and critical IT; batteries tested and replaced on schedule
Written shutdown procedure for critical plant; team trained and procedure accessible
Written restart procedure; no uncontrolled mass re-energising
Post-event: check drive fault logs, reset any tripped equipment, log incidents for pattern analysis

Generator and Backup Power Maintenance Schedules

Backup power is only reliable if it is maintained. Generator maintenance load shedding demands are higher than in countries with stable grid supply: units run more often, under heavier cycling, and in dusty or hot conditions. A disciplined PM schedule for diesel generators, batteries, inverters, and fuel is essential.

Daily Checks (When Load-Shedding is Active)

Visual inspection: fuel level, oil level, coolant, obvious leaks
Battery condition: terminals clean and tight; charging voltage correct
Run test: start the generator, let it run under load for the scheduled period (e.g. 15–30 minutes), confirm voltage and frequency are stable
Log running hours and any faults

Weekly PM Tasks for Diesel Generators

Check and top up coolant, oil, and fuel as needed
Inspect air filter; clean or replace if dirty
Check belt tension and condition (fan, alternator)
Test automatic transfer switch (ATS): simulate power failure and confirm generator takes load and retransfers when grid returns
Record running hours and add to meter-based PM schedule (e.g. oil and filter change every 500 hours)

Monthly and Quarterly Backup Power Maintenance

Monthly: Full visual inspection of cables, connections, and exhaust; check for corrosion or loose connections; verify fuel quality and tank condition (water, sediment)
Quarterly: Oil and filter change if hours-based schedule dictates; coolant test and top-up; load bank test if possible to verify capacity under load
Battery and inverter/UPS: Monthly check of battery voltage and load test; quarterly capacity test; replace batteries per manufacturer life (often 3–5 years for lead-acid in backup duty)

Fuel Management

Stale or contaminated diesel causes starting failures and engine damage. In backup power maintenance, fuel management is critical:

Rotate fuel: use oldest stock first; refill after prolonged running (e.g. after a load-shedding week)
Treat fuel with biocides and stabilisers if stored long-term
Drain water and sediment from tanks and day tanks on a schedule
Keep records of fuel delivery, consumption, and treatment

Checklist — Generator and backup power PM

Daily: fuel, oil, coolant, battery; run test and log hours when load-shedding is active
Weekly: top-ups, air filter, belts, ATS test; log hours for meter-based PM
Monthly: cables, connections, exhaust, fuel quality; battery and UPS check
Quarterly: oil/filter per hours; coolant; load bank test; battery capacity test
Fuel: rotate stock, treat for long storage, drain water/sediment on schedule

Maintaining Operations When the Grid Goes Down

When the power is off, connectivity often fails too. If your maintenance system depends on constant internet access, work orders and PM tracking stop the moment the network or server goes down. An offline CMMS keeps technicians productive and data intact.

Offline CMMS for Work Orders During Outages

An offline-capable CMMS allows technicians to open and complete work orders on a phone or tablet without a live connection. Tasks, checklists, and asset information are available on the device; when power and connectivity return, the app syncs completed work, time, and parts used back to the central system. That means no lost job cards, no duplicate data entry, and a continuous audit trail even when the grid or office network is down. For load shedding maintenance South Africa operations, offline CMMS is a practical way to avoid gaps in compliance and history.

Mobile-First Workflows

Mobile-first design means the primary way to capture and update work is on a handheld device. Technicians receive assignments, tick off steps, add notes and photos, and close out jobs from the floor or the plant — without returning to a desktop. When combined with offline mode, mobile-first workflows keep maintenance moving during load-shedding and in areas with poor coverage (common in industrial and mining sites).

Scheduling Around Stages

Use the published load-shedding schedule (Eskom or municipal) when planning maintenance windows. Schedule non-critical PM or inspections during known load-shedding slots so that production is already down and generator capacity is reserved for critical loads. Avoid scheduling heavy maintenance or contractor work in slots when you know power will be off unless you have confirmed backup and procedures. Planning maintenance windows around load-shedding reduces conflict between production, backup power limits, and maintenance execution.

Planning Maintenance Windows Around Load-Shedding Schedules

Load-shedding timetables are published in advance. Use them.

Identify your slots: Note the stages and times that affect your site(s). Different areas and municipalities may have different schedules.
Block maintenance windows: Where possible, align planned shutdowns or PM blocks with load-shedding periods so that downtime is shared and generator load is predictable.
Reserve generator capacity: If maintenance work during load-shedding requires power (e.g. testing, commissioning), ensure the generator is sized and prioritised for that load; avoid overloading by running non-essential loads at the same time.
Communicate: Ensure maintenance planners, supervisors, and production all work from the same schedule so that work is not scheduled when power is off and no one is surprised.

Over time, this becomes routine: load-shedding is built into the maintenance calendar rather than treated as an exception.

Load-Shedding as a Catalyst for Preventive Maintenance Culture

Load-shedding exposes weak maintenance practices quickly. Operations that relied on “run until it breaks” find that power cycling accelerates failures and that backup power fails when it is needed most. The result is often a shift in mindset: maintenance leaders start asking for better surge protection, stricter generator PM, and systems that work offline.

That shift is an opportunity. Use it to:

Prioritise PM on backup power and critical equipment: Make generator maintenance load shedding–ready with clear daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. Extend the same discipline to UPS, ATS, and critical motors.
Adopt an offline CMMS: Choose maintenance software that supports offline work orders and sync when connectivity returns. Reduce dependence on “when the network is up.”
Plan around the schedule: Integrate load-shedding into maintenance planning so that PM and shutdowns are aligned with known power-off periods.
Track and learn: Log equipment faults and failures that occur during or shortly after load-shedding. Use that data to improve protection, procedures, and PM frequency.

In this way, load-shedding becomes a driver for a more preventive, planned maintenance culture — which pays off in reliability and cost even when the grid is stable.

Summary

Load-shedding in South Africa is here to stay for the foreseeable future. For maintenance teams, the priorities are clear: protect critical equipment from surges and stress, maintain backup power to a strict schedule, and keep work orders and PM execution going when the grid and connectivity fail. Surge protection, soft-start drives, UPS, and clear shutdown and restart procedures reduce equipment damage. Generator and backup power maintenance — daily, weekly, and monthly — keep standby systems ready. An offline CMMS and mobile-first workflows ensure that maintenance data and productivity do not stop when the power does. Planning maintenance windows around load-shedding schedules avoids conflict and makes the best use of limited backup capacity. And by treating load-shedding as a reason to strengthen preventive maintenance and planning, operations can turn a constraint into a catalyst for better reliability and culture.

If your operation is looking to keep work orders and PM schedules running through load-shedding and poor connectivity, Lungisa offers offline mode and flexible PM scheduling designed for South African conditions — so your maintenance team can capture and complete work even when the grid goes down.