An Electro- engineer told the East London High Court yesterday that Mercedes-Benz SA should have done a proper risk analysis to assess the potential impact of longer term voltage variations on its manufacturing facilities.
Expert witness David Duncan said the company should have been alert to the capabilities of the West Bank sub-station especially built by Buffalo City Metro (BCM) as part of an electricity supply agreement.
Pretoria-based Duncan, a “power systems protection specialist”, was testifying on behalf of BCM in a claim for damages launched against it by MBSA.
An Eskom-initiated load-shedding exercise on a weekend in September 2009 to deal with problems on the high voltage power lines feedings into East London eventually resulted in an “over voltage” in the electricity BCM supplied to MBSA.
The high voltage feed – at one stage peaking at 12274 volts, well above the 11000 volts of contracted electricity – continued for about six hours, according to evidence before the court, as a “tap changer” in a transformer malfunctioned.
This caused MBSA to experience damage to some plant equipment and a three-day shutdown of assembly lines.
Duncan said most deviations from the ideal voltage magnitude did not normally cause damage as they were controllable.
“The supply authority supplies electricity to numerous consumers each with its own and different sensitivities to events such as short and longer term loss of supply as well as short and longer term voltage variations.”
MBSA should have minimised the risks of long-term voltage deviations impacting its operations.
Earlier, MBSA executive Barry Canning said that, at the time a new electricity supply agreement was signed with BCM in 1999, the company was spending about R40-million a year on electricity.
He said the manufacturing process was dependent on an uninterrupted supply of electricity, even when the plant shut down for the weekend, as equipment, including robots, were in “sleep” mode which still required an electricity supply.
At any one time, there would be up to 800 vehicles in various stages of assembly with the majority earmarked to meet export orders, and a production stoppage required a catch-up programme to ensure export orders were filled.
Canning said MBSA sourced parts from supplier stores around the world to repair damaged equipment and ensure the shutdown on the assembly lines was minimised.
Although the company has claimed damages of R2.3-million from BCM, the parties have agreed to decide the amount of damages later, once the court has ruled on the merits of MBSA’s claim.
The trial continues tomorrow.
MBSA should have been on ‘high alert’
Expert witness David Duncan said the company should have been alert to the capabilities of the West Bank sub-station especially built by Buffalo City Metro (BCM) as part of an electricity supply agreement.
Pretoria-based Duncan, a “power systems protection specialist”, was testifying on behalf of BCM in a claim for damages launched against it by MBSA.
An Eskom-initiated load-shedding exercise on a weekend in September 2009 to deal with problems on the high voltage power lines feedings into East London eventually resulted in an “over voltage” in the electricity BCM supplied to MBSA.
The high voltage feed – at one stage peaking at 12274 volts, well above the 11000 volts of contracted electricity – continued for about six hours, according to evidence before the court, as a “tap changer” in a transformer malfunctioned.
This caused MBSA to experience damage to some plant equipment and a three-day shutdown of assembly lines.
Duncan said most deviations from the ideal voltage magnitude did not normally cause damage as they were controllable.
“The supply authority supplies electricity to numerous consumers each with its own and different sensitivities to events such as short and longer term loss of supply as well as short and longer term voltage variations.”
MBSA should have minimised the risks of long-term voltage deviations impacting its operations.
Earlier, MBSA executive Barry Canning said that, at the time a new electricity supply agreement was signed with BCM in 1999, the company was spending about R40-million a year on electricity.
He said the manufacturing process was dependent on an uninterrupted supply of electricity, even when the plant shut down for the weekend, as equipment, including robots, were in “sleep” mode which still required an electricity supply.
At any one time, there would be up to 800 vehicles in various stages of assembly with the majority earmarked to meet export orders, and a production stoppage required a catch-up programme to ensure export orders were filled.
Canning said MBSA sourced parts from supplier stores around the world to repair damaged equipment and ensure the shutdown on the assembly lines was minimised.
Although the company has claimed damages of R2.3-million from BCM, the parties have agreed to decide the amount of damages later, once the court has ruled on the merits of MBSA’s claim.
The trial continues tomorrow.
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