Metro hopes no more dark days for Bronkhorstspruit after R96m substation upgrades

The Tshwane metro says it hopes days of Bronkhorstspruit residents being in darkness due to unplanned power outages will be a thing of the past after it completed upgrades to a power substation in that area recently.

Mayor Randall Williams on Monday unveiled the upgraded Bronkhorstspruit substation and said when the municipality started the project they were faced with increasing demand for power in the region.

“The substation underwent an extensive upgrade [to] its capacity from 20MVA to 80MVA at a cost of R96-million fully funded by the metro,” Williams said.

He said with the increased capacity the substation would be able to supply power to even more households and businesses.

“The demand for power was sitting at 26MVA and we were only able to provide 20MVA and that led to power constraints. With the increase to 80MVA we are not only addressing the changes that we faced but also building for future connection applications especially for businesses and large developments.”

Williams said he hoped the improved power supply capacity would unlock economic and development opportunities around Bronkhorstspruit and surrounding areas.

Despite problems and delays brought about by Covid-19 regulations, Williams said he was also happy with the project completion period, “impressively, the project was finished on time in a period of three years – the work started in April 2019 and was completed earlier in April this year”.

“With the upgrades and refurbishment, the substation is in good condition with modern technology,” Williams said, adding that “we are truly committed to maintaining and refurbishing all critical infrastructure”.

In his State of the Capital Address (Soca) Williams said the region had problems of old electrical infrastructure that had become vulnerable, easily caught fire and regularly broke down.

Four power substations in the metro burnt down in just six months last year.

In December, some residents in the east of Pretoria spent up to 13 days without power due to trips at Wapadrand substation and a fire at Mooikloof substation.

Williams said the metro urgently needed to replace the electricity infrastructure.

Breakdown of substations that experienced fire:

In July 2021: Wapadrand caught fire

In August 2021: Roslyn caught fire

In December 2021: Mooikloof caught fire

In December 2021: Kloofsig caught fire

R134-million was invested into the Wapadrand substation refurbishment.

“We’ve had our hands full working round the clock when the substation plunged the surrounding areas into darkness for days on end. This was a difficult time for all. Through this refurbishment, we intend to ensure we prevent further service interruptions in future,” Williams said.

Residents of the east of Pretoria in the past months experienced consistent power outages after the substation burnt last year.

The municipality planned also to start with upgrades in June to the Mooikloof substation.

ALSO READ: Elderly left with no power for nine days

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