City Power: Substation explosion affects several Joburg north suburbs

City Power said an explosion at a substation has plunged several areas in the north of Johannesburg into darkness.

City Power said customers feeding from the Gresswold substation have lost electricity due to an explosion heard coming from the substation early on Monday morning.

Explosion

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said City Power teams have been dispatched to attend and investigate the cause of the explosion and the extent of damage, if any.

“This tripped a breaker at Sebenza Substation. There is no fire at Sebenza as earlier suggested by some customers.  The power interruption happened early this morning around 06:40 am immediately after load shedding restoration.”

ALSO READ: Load shedding: Eskom and government promise to ‘find’ money for diesel

Affected areas:

• Highlands North
• Lyndhurst
• Fairmount
• Bramley
• Kew
• Sunningdale
• Sydenham
• Wynberg
• Atholl and surrounds

No estimated time of restoration of electricity has been established as yet, Mangena concluded.

City of Joburg to ditch Eskom

Meanwhile, after losing R300 million a day to load shedding, the City of Joburg multi-party government has announced that City Power has secured electricity from alternative energy sources through short-term power purchase agreements of up to 36 months to keep the lights on.

The City of Joburg made the announcement, which is expected to be welcomed by residents as they continue to battle with the deliberate power cuts imposed by Eskom with no reprieve in sight, on Tuesday.

Reinstated Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said the positive step towards mitigating and eventually ending rolling blackouts follows commitments made at the two-day Joburg Energy Indaba convened in April 2022.

Eskom no longer viable

City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said the utility is also currently undergoing an approval process for ministerial determination to procure power on a longer-term basis from IPPs.

“The traditional business model of procuring the bulk of our power from Eskom is no longer viable. Eskom itself has conceded to that effect. It is for this reason that we have developed a sustainable energy strategy that includes procuring power from diverse sources.”

ALSO READ: City of Joburg to ditch Eskom to keep the lights on