Substation fire results in week-long power outages
A FIRE at the Rossburgh substation on Sunday, 9 February resulted in extensive damage to a high voltage plant, which has resulted in power outages in Bayhead, Clairwood and parts of Rossburgh.
Electricity has not been restored as yet and businesses are using generators.
“The fire department extinguished the blaze at about 7am. Officials are on site to establish the extent of the damage and carry out reparation works to restore supply to the affected areas. The municipality will use all available resources and work continuously to repair the damaged plant. The municipality will use alternative feeds from the medium voltage network to carry out partial restoration to some areas, but at this stage it is anticipated that total restoration may only be achieved sometime before the end of the week,” Ethekwini Municipality head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa.
The municipality’s electricity technical experts are probing the cause of the fire and are unable to quantify the costs of the repair at this stage.
“We apologise for the disruptions and request customers in the affected areas to be patient, as every effort is being made to effect complete restoration within the shortest possible time. In case of enquiries, the electricity contact centre can be reached on 080-1313-111 all hours.”
