Load-shedding causing prolonged outages in Pretoria
“The reality is that municipal electrical distribution systems are not designed for continuous load-shedding conditions.”
Eskom’s load-shedding has a significant impact on the metro’s infrastructure, according to the Tshwane metro.
“It often causes electricity grids to trip and power surges that last even after load-shedding has ended,” said utility services MMC Phillip Nel.
“The reality is that municipal electrical distribution systems are not designed for continuous load-shedding conditions.
“During load-shedding, the turning on and off of electricity to a grid happens up to three times per day, but the real challenge is that the load is synchronised and concentrated. All geysers, pumps, heaters, air conditioners, etc. start simultaneously.”
Nel said the start-up current of rotating machines like pumps and compressors was up to three times higher during the first few seconds.
“It is this concentrated load that sometimes is high enough to trip a circuit breaker, but the peak current is also high enough to cause a blow out on the joints of the 11KV cables buried underground.”
He said there was a need to limit the initial load on the system to help protect the grids from tripping by following these measures:
– Switch off all rotating machines, heaters and geysers before the planned reconnection time.
– When power is restored, wait a few minutes before boiling the kettle and resuming cooking.
– Switch geysers, pumps, etc. on only after power has stabilised.
– The above can be achieved by switching off all circuit breakers, excluding lights during the power out period.
The lights will confirm when power is restored, and other circuits can then be switched on gradually after power is stable.
“This will also protect electronic equipment,” Nel said.
“We all need to work together to protect our electricity infrastructure.”
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
