Brixton substation fire disrupts Johannesburg power and water supplies

What happened

A fire at the Brixton substation in Johannesburg reduced the station's equipment to ashes, according to City Power. City Power said the substation burnt the night before the report because of overload on the transformer. A contractor on site indicated that repairs and restoration of power could take up to five days if all went to plan. The fire also affected water supply for areas supplied by the Brixton Reservoir and tower zones, including Brixton, Mayfair, Hursthill, Jan Hofmeyer, Melville, Auckland Park and Helen Joseph Hospital. It was the second substation fire affecting Johannesburg residents' power and water in less than a week.

Contributing factors

City Power attributed the fire to overload on the transformer. No independent finding of cause is reported.

Lessons learned

1. Keep transformer loading within rated capacity, and treat reported overload as a prompt for load and protection checks.
2. Plan for rapid assessment and equipment replacement after major substation damage, and treat early repair times as estimates.
3. Coordinate power and water responses when a substation failure can interrupt reservoir pumping.

Source

dailymaverick.co.za