City Power is geared up to tackle the City’s rising electricity demand following an estimated R7 billion project for construction of new substations, refurbishment and upgrade of some.

With the increasing number of population and rapid development in the City coupled with current electricity problems in the country, the entity has plans to improve its capacity to cater for the demand. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena revealed that for the short term, the entity was working on the maintenance of the existing infrastructure.

However, in the long term, there were plans to upgrade and refurbish 28 substations. Ten intake stations are due for upgrade following long-term demand growth, 17 new substations would be constructed and 54 power transformers will be refurbished.

Currently, City Power has 270 substations and switching stations. All of them are fully functional except for one that has been decommissioned due to vandalism. The current capacity for the substations and switching stations is approximately 3 000 MW in winter which is the peak period for consumption.

The capacity is expected to grow from 3 000MW to 5 000MW after the project has been completed. “However, this increase will depend on a number of factors which are outside City Power’s control, such as economic factors, spatial planning and many more. Substation performance is also linked to the performance of the individual assets as well as network load demand growth,” said Mangena.

Mangena further said that the growth of the population and commercial demand were influenced by the spatial development plan.

“These factors are critical to the level of service and quality thereof delivered by City Power. City Power constantly upgrades, refurbishes and constructs new substations to support the development and improve the quality of service of the networks.”

A number of City Power substations are undergoing upgrading due to new spatial developments and an increase in electricity demand. These substations, namely, Sebenza, Cleveland, Heriotdale, Wilropark, Mondeor, Pennyville, Roosevelt, Mulbarton and Nancefield are close to completion while others are still being upgraded.

What do you think about City Power’s plans to increase the capacity of electricity supply?

Related article: