Tshwane power crisis: City hopes to restore all customers by Thursday evening
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The City of Tshwane says it hopes to restore power to all customers affected by Tuesday’s explosion at the Watloo substation by Thursday evening.The incident affected a major part of the electricity network, impacting at least 11 substations and leaving large parts of Pretoria without power.Nndwamato Tom Mutshidza, Divisional Head in the city’s Energy and Electricity Business Unit, told 702 that some customers had their power restored on Tuesday night, with more areas brought back online on Wednesday.By Thursday morning, around 30% of affected customers were still without electricity.
“From lunchtime all the way to evening, we’ll have to make sure that everyone is back online,” he said, Mutshidza added that rain had hampered repair work on Tuesday, making it difficult for teams to work safely.
Mutshidza said the exact cause of the explosion remained under investigation
From an insurance perspective, he explained they need to provide records of all maintenance work carried out.
“Then that will then be able to ensure that the insurance looks into that, whether we are negligent or not.”
He did, however, rule out foul play, saying the substation was secured.
Mutshidza said the incident appeared to involve a mechanical failure of panels.
“I guess the load becomes too much and then the panels exploded in one of the stadiums inside. “
Teams will continue working throughout Thursday, aiming to get the remaining affected customers back online by tonight.
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