Electricity supply being improved
Substations refurbished by City Power.
City Power has upgraded three substations – Roodepoort, Cydna (Melrose) and Nirvana (Lenasia) – in an effort to reduce the frequent power outages and energy losses.
Johannesburg is growing rapidly, because of the population’s migration to urban areas. This has placed an increased strain on both the electricity supply and the maintenance of ageing equipment. City Power’s capital expansion and refurbishment programme has undergone upgrades to cater for the current and future needs of the city.
Roodepoort’s new substation, the only one to be built from scratch, has entailed a capital investment of approximately R128 billion. The existing Roodepoort substation is a high voltage plant which supplies residents on the West Rand, and new customers are being added to the existing load continually. The substation’s current transformers have been replaced with two 20 megavolt amperes (mva) 11/ 6,6 kilovolt (kv) power transformers with a 600 meter 88 kv double line, starting at the existing Roodepoort substation and travelling all the way to the new Roodepoort substation.
In addition to this capital expansion programme, upgrades at the Nirvana and Cydna substations have also been implemented. The total project budget at Cydna was R1 million, while the Nirvana upgrade is estimated to have cost R56 million. These upgrades will provide a host of benefits to customers.
Sicelo Xulu, managing director at City Power, said, “These projects have come about as measures to remedy power losses and enhance development in surrounding areas. Continued maintenance and refurbishment of the substations will preserve infrastructure and networks.”
Construction at all three sites is completed and operations will start as soon as functionality tests are completed.
According to Xulu, mini-substations supplying streetlights with power will remain encased in steel cages and frequently targeted cable circuits have been replaced with aluminium to reduce the occurrence of criminal activity.
Supply challenges experienced over the years will be met by the new substation upgrades.
The impact of outages on customers will be decreased by the power distribution from these substations and non-technical issues due to electricity theft will also be reduced significantly.
The completion of the upgrades promises a stable electricity supply with fewer outages, guaranteeing a better serviced and satisfied customer.
Do you think these upgrades are a step in the right direction? Tell us what you think.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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