The City of Tshwane is working round the clock to restore power to all areas of the metro that were plunged into darkness after a fire broke out at its Wapadrand substation. MMC for Energy and Electricity, Water and Sanitation, and Regional Operation and Co-ordination, Phillip Nel, said they could not give an estimated time when full supply would be restored to all affected areas.
He said they would only be able to do so after getting results from the testing department. He said teams had been hard at work.
Nel said City and engineering teams were “working aggressively” to stick to the timelines they had set, and their plan remained that by late yesterday the equipment would be handed over to the testing department.
They would then conduct their final testing and be able to power the substation in phases.
The MMC said that although there was a trip yesterday morning which affected some of the areas that had already been energised, there did not appear to be any damage and the teams were working to restore power as quickly as possible.
Nel said that although the areas had been energised yesterday, they had discovered that the cables supplying them were running through the same trench as the cables that needed repairs for the other areas.
“We may have to switch the area off again until after the complete repair of the substation with the southern suburbs in order to ensure the safety of the technical teams.”
The power supply to Cura, Furrow, Vergelegen, Meerlust, including the Equestria Retirement Village and Stellenberg, would only be restored once the power to the substation has been secured in full.
“The power supply to Wapadrand east of Solomon Mahlangu, as well as Lombardi, Tygerpoort and Zwavelpoort are all on track to be switched on only once the entire substation is energised,” Nel added.
“The teams will be working to replace sections of cable on six of the feeder cables and they should be ready for energising southern suburbs such as Koedoeberg, Faerie Glen, Olympus and Boardwork by late tonight (last night).”