Harvard substation explosion cuts power across Bloemfontein

What happened

An explosion was reported at the Harvard Substation in Bloemfontein on the night of Monday 20 March 2023. The substation supplies electricity from Eskom to Centlec, the Mangaung Metro electricity supplier. Centlec said both 132 kV incomers had tripped on the supply to Mangaung and that this affected the entire city. The report described most of Bloemfontein as left in darkness. Hospitals were reported to be running on generators. Centlec said the restoration time could not be estimated until the fault was assessed, and the cause had not been identified at the time of reporting.

Contributing factors

The cause of the explosion had not been identified when the report was published. Centlec said both 132 kV incomers had tripped.

Lessons learned

1. Loss of both incoming feeds at a city supply substation can black out a wide area, so operators should know how critical sites will be supplied if that happens.
2. Public notices should say what is known and should not give a restoration time before the fault has been assessed.
3. Hospitals and other essential sites need an alternative supply that can start without delay when the city feed is lost.

Source

citizen.co.za