City of Mbombela Local Municipality needs R214m to upgrade the current electrical infrastructure

MBOMBELA – This is the view of Sipho Sibeko, general manager of the Department of Energy at the municipality. These calculations form part of a technical report which was drawn up by Sibeko for the municipal council after a flood of complaints about constant power outages from residents in wards 15, 16 and 17, was discussed during a meeting with the city’s top management in late April.

During the meeting, residents aired their frustrations with the numerous and untimely outages, mainly due to Delta Substation’s switchgear failing when the system is overloaded.
Sibeko said in his report that the council currently only has R55m available in its budget.

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Delta Substation has a capacity of 80MVA and was constructed in 1972 with a lifespan of 40 years. According to his report Delta’s constant outages are due to ageing infrastructure and poor maintenance.

“The equipment is obsolete and the procurement of spares is difficult since production of some of these has been discontinued. “The residential and commercial growth and business developments are putting more demand and overloading the infrastructure,” he said.
The report also indicates the 33kV lines in the electricity network have high transmission losses and have also aged.

“The current network will struggle to accommodate further development. Funding has been made available to upgrade the existing infrastructure at Delta to extend its lifespan. “The 33Kv transmission lines need refurbishment and upgraded to 132kV to reduce transmission losses and to accommodate future development and growth,” Sibeko said.

Breakdown of the cost to upgrade the infrastructure and the available budgets are:

• Delta Substation: R68m with only R33m available.
• The new 132kV line from West Acres to Steiltes to Valencia: R24m with only R12m available.
• The new132kV line from Valencia to Delta: R16m with no funds in the budget.
• Valencia Substation upgrade:
R48m with only R10m available.
• Steiltes Substation upgrade:
R58m with no funding in the budget.

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Sibeko indicated that his department is auditing all electrical equipment and distribution systems to establish the condition and suitability of the network. He said in the process it will develop, document and implement maintenance, repair and monitoring (inspection) systems.

These will include maintenance and inspection intervals and the implementation of the permissible periods that equipment and systems may be out if commission.

Click here to view the full report.