HOT weather is the reason behind the recent power outages around Durban according to eThekwini Municipality.
Msawakhe Mayisela, eThekwini municipality spokesperson, said extreme weather forces electrical components to operate at tolerance limits, causing them to falter.
“In coastal regions like Durban, where our relative humidity is high, moisture ingression in electrical components and cable joints is difficult to control. When this happens, the conductive moisture causes arcing between electrical components, resulting in overheating and eventually fires or explosions,” he said.
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There were several power outages last week, not linked to load shedding, that occurred in Durban CBD, Umbilo, Glenwood and surrounding areas.
The causes behind the outages were various and included terminators being blown at Essenwood and faults with medium voltage cables that affected power supply.
Durban enjoyed some high temperatures over the past two weeks, some days reaching a high of 34 degrees celsius according to data from the South African Weather Service.
In the meantime, Mayisela said the city’s Technical Research Division is working on solutions to improve reliability.
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