A R20m upgrade to the Kragga Kamma substation in Nelson Mandela Bay will see several areas no longer suffering from planned or unplanned outages, while the load-shedding schedule will be followed more closely.
The substation supplies Walmer, Mangold Park, Fairview, Westering, Cotswold and Fernglen.
The upgrade started in 2017 and included the replacement of the 22kV and 6.6kV switchgears which were installed in 1958 and 1960, respectively.
Electricity and energy portfolio head Lance Grootboom unveiled the new substation on Tuesday.
He said due to old infrastructure, the substation had blown up twice in the past, posing a danger to surrounding areas and workers.
“The previous system was more than 40 years old, which meant the municipality could not obtain parts to fix or service it, thus the viable option was to upgrade it, as it covers a number of areas in Ward 9.
The benefits of the upgrade include advanced capabilities to remotely control the substation and detect problems remotely from the city’s operating centre, resulting in reduced downtime in resolving interruptions and service complaints.
“As a city, we are committed to supplying our residents with an uninterrupted supply of electricity and this infrastructure investment will assist in achieving that,” Grootboom said.
For years, areas that fell under the old Kragga Kamma substation could not undergo load-shedding.
Grootboom said the revamp was an exciting initiative.
“The equipment installed is very effective because if there are any problems we will be able to pick it up remotely from the control room,” he said.
Grootboom said vandalism of infrastructure was still a problem and concern not only for the city, but for SA.
However, he said there were plans in place to address the issue.
“We are going to establish a monitoring team that would include police, metro police and residents for the safety of the station.
“We are also looking into installing cameras, not only for this station, but others across the metro,” he said.
“We should also not forget to thank the ward councillor for voicing this issue for the past years, because it was he who constantly raised the matter in council,” he said.
Ward 9 councillor Heinrich Muller said concerns were raised about the substation dating back to 2009.
He said the old infrastructure made it difficult to detect a problem.
“We got complaints from residents and had so many headaches because of the substation.
“A team would be dispatched and would still have to look for the problem, and sometimes it is not safe,” he said.
He said municipal technicians had lost their lives in the past after trying to work on the substation.
“The substation was so old that we could not even form part of load-shedding because the municipality could not switch it off.
“We are glad the investment will reduce outages.
“Both residents and businesses will benefit from the upgrade.
“We are very happy with the stable and secure electricity supply, and having a safer substation for officials and residents,” he said.
Municipal project manager Carel van Dyk said work started in 2017, and was ongoing.
He said the upgrade included spare parts and a protection scheme.
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