City Power loses generating capacity at Kelvin Substation

Eskom reminded South Africans that there is an increased possibility of loadshedding over the next 18 months as it is conducting maintenance to restore its ageing plant.

City Power recently stated that it was forced to embark on stage 2 loadshedding as declared by Eskom.

Isaac Mangena, spokesperson of City Power, then explained that the entity received electricity from two lines at Kelvin Power Station which contributed 10 per cent of overall electricity supply, with the rest coming from Eskom.

“We lost one line, which was impacted by the damage to the 275kV Prospect, Sebenza Line number one on Saturday night.”

The damage has plunged most of the east and central Johannesburg suburbs into darkness.

Ward 32 Clr Bongani Nkomo weighed in on how the loadshedding is affecting Modderfontein and Greenstone residents.

“The traffic lights being off causes a lot of traffic and it becomes a mission to travel to work and back depending on when we are being shed.”

Network connection is a problem when there is loadshedding according to Nkomo.

“I have experienced this to a point where I could not communicate with the relevant people to get the problem fixed.”

Nkomo said people cannot cook and has to resort to take-away food.

“Not everyone has the luxury of buying take-away food when they don’t have electricity so this becomes a problem.”

Nkomo said he also gets complaints from businesses in Greenstone that have no generators.

“If they cannot work, they are looking at a loss.”

A safety element was highlighted by Nkomo.

“We need lighting for visibility, so the CPF and SAPS will be able to spot suspicious activity.”

We appeal to customers to revisit their loadshedding schedules on the Eskom https://loadshedding.eskom.co.za or local municipal websites, depending on their electricity supplier, to review amendments.

The schedule for Modderfontein and Greenstone can be found on the City Power website, https://www.citypower.co.za.

Follow @CitypowerJHB on twitter for regular updates.

We urge customers to continue using electricity sparingly, and check the loadshedding schedule to know when their area will be shed,” said City Power.

Eskom’s five tips to reducing the stage of loadshedding, and using electricity sparingly:

1. Set air-conditioners’ average temperature at 23°C.

2. Switch off your geysers over peak periods.

3. Use the cold water tap rather than using the geyser every time.

4. Set your swimming pool pump cycle to run twice a day, three hours at a time.

5. At the end of the day, turn off computers, copiers, printers and fax machines at the switch.