According to the Tshwane Metro Council, the power supply to parts of the east of Pretoria will be restored by Wednesday.
Residents of these areas have been without power since last Wednesday after the Mooikloof substation caught fire.
Jacqui Uys, councilor of the Tshwane metro council, says that provided everything goes smoothly, the power should be restored in phases by Wednesday evening. However, it is not certain exactly when everyone will have power back.
Hard work lies ahead
The first transformer (R) is connected to the control panels and the teams are busy with final wiring and connection.
Once this is done, the testing can begin. The transformer will be switched on and run for a few hours to see if it can handle the pressure.
The connection of the second transformer (A) will start when work on transformer R is finished.
The crews started working on transformer (C) and were cleaning the oil by Sunday evening. This work will take about 24 hours. The transformer needs to be connected to the right panels and work on this is likely to be completed by Tuesday.
Wiring on the panels themselves must also be done. “The crews are currently connecting transformer R to the control panel. Pressure testing on the guide rod is done. The teams have already tested the five new panels and are now busy testing the old panels,” says Uys. “However, the big job lies with the cable network.
“All 19 cables from the substation caught fire and had to be cut. The cables must be replaced and attached to the back of the panels. Quite a few cables have been tested. The team still has to dig up the last three cables. This must be done by hand, so that the cables are not damaged.”
Once all 19 cables have been replaced, workers must connect them in the panels on one side and connect them on the other side.
As for the cables from the substation to residential houses, the teams indicated ten faulty cables.
For eight of the cables, the fault in the cable has already been pointed out. Of these eight, workers have already started fixing one.
#PowerOutage: PTA East Mooikloof substation has caught fire. Which has triggered a trip at Nyala in-feed station.
This has affected Mooikloof and Wapardrand supply areas.
Our team is investigating, a detailed update will follow pic.twitter.com/JoD8Qgg36f
— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) April 18, 2024
(WATCH) Update on Mooikloof Substation fire. @CityTshwane pic.twitter.com/swUxII6Ma3
— Mayor Cilliers Brink (@tshwane_mayor) April 18, 2024
