LYDENBURG – The technical committee, working with the Thaba Chweu Municipality’s (TCM) technical department and consulting engineers, has had its first-round discussions with Eskom to address the future power needs of the town.
According to Mr Leon de Jager of the business chamber, a very positive meeting was held on May 15, with a follow-up meeting held on June 3.
During the gathering parties focused on the establishment of the Duma Substation.
De Jager said it was of extreme importance to ensure that the future demand for electricity for the town was addressed. It was said an electrical tariff-structure consultant must be appointed to evaluate the current structure to make recommendations to the council and to submit proposal with regard to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.
“It was said that Eskom should be engaged in order to discuss the possibility of it selling or transferring some of its infrastructure (power lines and transformers) so that only two metering points could be established. This proposal, if realised, could save TCM more or less R500 000 per month in demand penalties charged by Eskom.”
He said attention had to be given to conclude the “closing” of the 22kV ring around the town with two connecting lines, one from each Eskom substation. “This will ensure that the power distribution is better balanced, especially during peak times.”
The meetings also touched on the subject to investigate the possible swap of the 4MVA transformer serving the Mashishing Township, which is presently overloaded, with the repaired 10MVA transformer.
“During the first meeting with Eskom in Pretoria, it indicated that it was willing to consider the proposals mentioned above. Eskom planned a follow-up meeting with TCM on June 4 to discuss these and other matters. As these discussions progress, we will keep the community enlightened,” De Jager said.
