MTUNZINI electricity supply is often a hit-and-miss affair and interruptions are a fairly frequent event.
However, in two months time that should all change when Eskom will have completed fresh supply lines into town and the Zini River Estate.
When Exxaro started working on the Fairbreeze project, it became clear that the 11kV rural power supplying Mtunzini would not be sufficient.
An upgrade was approved which involved the construction of a new 88kV line branching off from the Hudley substation, to supply and feed into the Fairbreeze substation.
The 5,4km line traversed a number of farms, but Exxaro agreed to carry the servitude costs involved.
When Fairbreeze was put on hold owing to financial constraints in 2008/09, Eskom was not convinced the new line and substation should go ahead.
But Exxaro’s commitment to carry the costs meant the project did continue. The 88kV line was completed in June 2010 and in August 2011 the substation was fitted with a distribution transformer dedicated entirely to Mtunzini.
With the Fairbreeze primary wet plant moved further away from Mtunzini, a new substation will have to be built for the mine.
All that is left is the construction of the new supply lines from the substation into town and the River Estate, which is taking place at the moment.
According to Exxaro KZN Sands spokesperson, Natalie Keegan, the latest feedback from Eskom is that their works will be completed by the end of March.
‘The new equipment will give additional supply capacity for the town to support future expansions. The reliability of supply should also improve due to the new and bigger infrastructure.’
