Lack of budget impacts substation maintenance in Gauteng
An urgent solution is needed to the ongoing crisis in the province of Gauteng in South Africa.
Image for illustration purposes.
South Africa, Gauteng: An urgent solution is needed to the ongoing load-shedding crisis in the province of Gauteng in South Africa.
Load-shedding has been implemented for several years now, and this has negatively impacted Gauteng’s municipalities’ electrical infrastructure.
Some of the municipalities in the province do not have portable substations or generators to continue providing electricity to their customers if there is a prolonged outage after load-shedding.
This information was revealed in a reply to the Democratic Alliance’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to the Member of the Executive Council for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mzi Khumalo.
According to the MEC, the City of Tshwane (CoT) does not have portable generators that will provide electricity to customers in the event of a trip post-load-shedding.
In the absence of an alternate supplier of electricity, prolonged outages cannot be mitigated by local distributors alone. For a solution to be found, the National Control Centre (NCC) is required to implement different measures to reduce the electricity demand.
The CoT has a plan to maintain the Wapadrand, Mooikloof, Pyramid, Monavoni, Pyramid, Monavoni and Kentron substations, which will have a total cost of R533 million (USD 27,6 million).
It is clear that Gauteng’s electrical infrastructure is in dire need of maintenance, and some municipalities have indicated that they do not have sufficient budgets to carry out this maintenance. This puts the residents on the back foot, especially where substations trip after load-shedding because of the lack of maintenance.
In addition, businesses operating in the area that are unable to afford generators are also at a disadvantage, which may cause them to close their doors, leading to further job losses in the province. This situation does not inspire investor confidence. The DA said it will be putting pressure on MEC Khumalo to assist municipalities in ensuring that there is a proper budget to maintain critical electrical infrastructure.
Source: DA Gauteng
#electrical infrastructure#load shedding#South Africa#substation