Fire at Ubungo substation in Dar es Salaam cuts power across parts of the city

A fire broke out at around 3.30am at the Ubungo substation operated by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) in Dar es Salaam. The blaze was extinguished through a joint operation between the city fire brigade and a private security firm. Control cables and the T5 breaker of the 33kV substation were affected, and some major power cables were damaged, although the utility said no serious damage was caused. Technicians were still assessing whether other sections of the substation had been damaged. Numerous areas of the city were affected, including residential neighbourhoods, universities and commercial sites, with Kinondoni District reported as worst affected. Tanesco estimated it would take up to two weeks for supply to stabilise, with intermittent cuts rather than a full blackout while technicians carried out repairs and procured replacement cables through government procurement procedures. Some affected areas were to be reconnected from neighbouring substations in the meantime.

The cause of the fire could not be immediately established and was under investigation at the time of reporting. The utility said the loss incurred was not yet known.

1. Substations serving dense urban areas benefit from redundant switching and the ability to back-feed affected load from neighbouring substations, as was done here.
2. Rapid coordinated response between municipal fire services and on-site security can limit escalation of a substation fire.
3. Procurement arrangements for critical spares such as breakers and high-voltage cables should allow expedited emergency replacement, since lead times can extend restoration by weeks.

thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/substation-blaze-sparks-fresh-power-crisis...