Maintenance causes power failure at Sappi

NGODWANA – Sappi’s paper mill in this village ground to a halt early on Wednesday because of an electrical short in Eskom’s high-voltage supply breakers at the mill.

Eskom is currently conducting general maintenance in the Eskom yard at Ngodwana, where the mill connects to the national power network.

After the electrical short the mill went into “island mode”, and disconnected itself from the national grid to prevent damage to its electrical circuit.

An Eskom operator explained there appeared to have been a drop in frequency in the breakers and that resulted in the blackout.

The Ngodwana Paper Mill celebrated its 50th year in business in 2013 and was undergoing some extensive upgrades.

Mr SW Engelbrecht, the general manager of Ngodwana mill, said a full investigation was under way to identify the root cause, and also to determine the financial impact of Wednesday morning’s incident.

There were rumours though that it would cost Ngodwana at least R10 million for every day that the plant was not in operation.

Later on Wednesday Eskom personnel reported that the power had been restored and the mill was in the process of starting up again.