Bay metro allocates R11 million to refurbish seven transformers

Frequent power outages could soon be a thing of the past for Nelson Mandela Bay residents and businesses, according to infrastructure and engineering portfolio head Mongameli Bobani.

This after the municipality allocated R11m to refurbish seven electricity transformers.

Bobani said work had already started at the Neave substation, which supplies the Neave industrial area.

Speaking at a site visit to the substation on Thursday, Bobani said the metro had opted to refurbish the transformers as opposed to replacing them after an analysis by municipal engineers.

“This particular transformer is about 60 years old, so it has really carried us through the years as it has surpassed its lifespan already.

“We supply power to a number of businesses in this area, including Livingstone Hospital, so it is very important for us to ensure that the transformer here is effective and efficient as part of our continuous efforts to address the issue of ageing infrastructure in our city.”

Asked about replacing the aged transformers, municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said the exercise would be too costly and had not been budgeted for.

Bobani said his directorate was committed to saving jobs in the city and attracting investors by ensuring the power supply was reliable in industrial areas.

“We are working on fixing the generator that we have in the city and now finalising a few maintenance issues.

“I can tell everyone that load-shedding in Nelson Mandela Bay will be a thing of the past.

“We are working to ensure that the generator is working — load-shedding is costing the economy of our city and inconveniencing our residents,” Bobani said.

However, power utility Eskom emphases on its website that localised outages should not be confused with load-shedding.

Local outages can occur when there is a technical fault in the transmission or distribution network, or when electricity equipment has been tampered with or when there is an overload of the local system because of irregular high usage due to electricity theft and normal faults.

By contrast, load-shedding is done countrywide as a controlled option to respond to unplanned events to protect the national electricity power system from a total blackout.

The Bay’s electricity and energy executive director, Luvuyo Magalela, said transformers played a critical role in the city’s electricity distribution network, making them the most expensive part of the network.

They range in price between R10m to R30m each, depending on their size.

“The R11m will be used to refurbish the seven transformers that are above their life expectancy as transformers generally have a lifespan between 30 to 40 years, provided there is proper monitoring and maintenance of the equipment.

“The project has commenced and is expected to be completed by the end of June.

“Once completed, the reliability and quality of electricity supply will be improved in the Neave industrial area and other areas, including Uitenhage,” Magalela said.

Ndamase said other transformers were scattered across the city, including two in Uitenhage and another in Walmer, and the refurbishment of all transformers would be complete within the current financial year.

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