The Wapadrand substation is also undergoing refurbishment. Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
The City of Tshwane’s work to rebuild Wapadrand sub-station, which went up in flames in 2021, is on track to be completed in October this year.
This was revealed by deputy mayor Nasiphi Moya during her visit to the facility yesterday.
Moya also visited Mooikloof sub-station, which recently suffered a fire outbreak, leaving many suburbs in Pretoria East in the dark.
The Mooikloof 132/11kV sub-station experienced an explosion, resulting in a fire on Transformer B and the 11kV panels.
According to the City, the incident was caused by a fault originating from one of the 11kV power lines outside the sub-station.
Wapadrand, on the other hand, previously suffered two fire incidents, subjecting people to prolonged power outages.
The rebuilding of Wapadrand is expected to address its capacity to deal with the demands of power consumption in the area.
Moya said work at both sub-stations was done under the auspices of the newly formed capital project committee to ensure the City meets all the milestones when it comes to 168 capital projects in this financial year.
“Of the 168 projects we have got 15 projects that we have flagged that they are high-risk projects. Two of those projects are the Mooikloof sub-station as well as Wapadrand sub-station,” she said.
She said she was comforted by the fact that the Wapadrand project was likely to meet the October 2024 deadline.
“While we are dealing with the Mooikloof and obviously with the recent fire outbreak that happened here, there may be some delays, but there are plans to make sure that we are on track on both projects,” she said.
She said it was important to put the necessary protection in the projects, especially in the wake of the past fire outbreaks.
She promised to continue keeping tabs on the projects to make sure that their budget allocation was well spent.
Ward 101 councillor Malcolm Ian De Klerk said he was impressed by the new technology used in the reconstruction of the facility.
He hoped that going forward Wapadrand’s capacity will be able to deal with the demands of power consumption in the area.
On Saturday, one of the transformers at Eldoraigne sub-station in Centurion caught fire, but it was quickly extinguished by municipal firefighters.
While the City has launched an investigation into the incident, there was suspicion that cable vandalism and theft could be behind the cause of fire.
Pretoria News
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