Substation suffers as load-shedding continues

Large areas of Brakpan were left without electricity twice last week due to problems at the Van Eck substation.

Over the weekend, residents looking forward to a day of shopping and relaxation were left without electricity for more than 15 hours. Areas affected included Brenthurst, Anzac, Brakpan Central and parts of Vulcania.

The recent power woes started last Wednesday when the electricity went off just after 16:00 after load-shedding and only came back on at about 19:00.

On Friday evening, another blackout occurred just after 22:30, again after load-shedding, with power only being restored at about 16:45 on Saturday afternoon.

Ward 97 Clr Brandon Pretorius told the Herald he and the DA in Ekurhuleni are concerned about the consistent failures experienced at the substation.

“The substation has over the past months and more specifically last week experienced a high number of failures,” he said.

Regarding Wednesday’s outage, Pretorius told the Herald the energy department reported that a terminal at the substation blew.

This in turn affected the line that supplies the Vulcania 33 substation that is responsible for supplying a large portion of Brakpan areas.

“The energy department managed to isolate the matter and repairs continued and the team was able to restore power within a few hours,” he said.

“On Friday, Brakpan was faced with another outage late in the evening. The energy department’s standby team moved on site and feedback was given that a terminal blew at the site.

“On Saturday morning I proceeded to the substation to observe the work taking place and also to try and require real-time feedback.

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“Upon my arrival my first question was how it is possible that the terminal blew again as it was just fixed two days ago. The team indicated that it was not the same terminal and were busy with repairs as I arrived.

“The team indicated that the repairs would take them another three hours and that after load-shedding the power would be restored.

“Shortly after 14:00 I was on site as the power had not been restored as indicated and I assumed that something went wrong.

“I arrived on site and the department then indicated that the spring is not charging and therefore power could not be restored. The team continued with work and when I left the site at 17:00 the power had been restored to all affected areas.”

Pretorius explained it was clear from his onsite experience that technicians on the ground are working tirelessly and the cause of the outage and the delay in restoration was not due to negligence but rather due to the continuous strain that load-shedding has on the substations infrastructure.

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“A lot of maintenance is being done at the substation but it is clear that there has been a neglect of maintenance and that some of the infrastructure is outdated and reached its expiry date,” he said.

“I have engaged with the MMC for energy and requested that a mitigation plan be put in place to assist the station as we move forward.

“It is clear that the system was never built to be switched on and off and the impact that load-shedding has on the substation and the energy grid as a whole is problematic. We know this is not a problem that is going to go away anytime soon and a plan is needed.

“I tried to again engage on the point of suspension of load-shedding for the effected areas but load-shedding is implemented by Eskom from a central point and not through the city.

“As councillors in Brakpan we will continue to fight for our residents and fight for adequate budget allocation in council to ensure that services are delivered on all fronts.”