KwaDukuza Municipality sheds light on ‘extended loadshedding’
While problems continue at times to delay the return of power, the municipality is undertaking several projects to improve supply, such as the construction of the Dukuza substation which is expected to be completed by August next year.
North Coast residents have for the past few months vented their frustration over ‘extended loadshedding’ which has plagued parts of Ballito, with power remaining off for hours after loadshedding has ended.
Typically, two-hour loadshedding has a 30-minute allowance period for the safe switching on of electricity.
“However, in some cases, supply restoration can take longer,” said KwaDukuza Municipality spokesperson, Sifiso Zulu.
There are also other factors at play which contribute to delayed restoration of power, he said.
Tripping of circuits is one of the causes, which normally occurs due to overload. This is referred to as a cold load start-up, specifically if loadshedding had been extended owing to an increase in stages.
“Ideally, electricity capacity is based on diversified load. Some people will cook at 6pm, for example, while other may cook at 7pm,” he said.
But when every electricity consumer needs to use full capacity at the same time, as often happens after loadshedding, capacity is not enough, resulting in equipment failure or tripping.
“There is also a significant increase of theft and vandalism of electrical infrastructure.”
He said there had been many occasions when cables or earthing equipment had either been stolen or vandalised, especially during loadshedding which provides a safe opportunity for criminals to strike.
While these issues continue at times to delay the return of power, the municipality is undertaking several projects to improve supply, such as the construction of the Dukuza substation which is expected to be completed by August next year.
It would improve KwaDukuza’s electricity capacity in the southern parts, and once online would increase the current supply of 30 megavolt amperes (MVA) to 80.
“KwaDukuza’s current maximum demand as allocated by Eskom is 152MVA, while the total current demand averages around 140MVA,” he said.
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