Photo by: Bloomberg
The City of Ekurhuleni in Gauteng is set to spend over R100-million to stabilise power supply in Germiston, this after weeks of prolonged power outages in the area.
In a statement from the City, it admitted that Germiston had for the past few months experienced intermittent power failures due to ageing medium voltage (MV) underground cables, as well as cable theft.
It said all power interruptions were recorded and trends analysed to identify potential weak spots and frequently failing distribution equipment within the electricity distribution network.
The City of Ekurhuleni said it had prioritised seven medium voltage underground cable feeders for immediate replacement to stabilise the network, as well as improve reliability and performance.
About R50-million has been set aside in the current financial year to upgrade electricity lines in Germiston.
According to the statement, the total distance of new cables to be installed by June this year in Germiston and surrounding areas was 29.4 kilometres.
It said phase one of the upgrade would be completed at the end of June, while in the next financial year R80-million had been set aside to further upgrade the Germiston electricity distribution infrastructure.
“It is important to note that the upgrading of the underground cables does not cause electricity interruptions as engineers lay the new cables adjacent to the existing infrastructure route. When the cable feeder has been completed, the old cable is disabled and the new cable connected to the ring circuit without affecting supply of electricity,” said the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Energy, Councillor Doctor Xhakaza.