Substation fire leaves parts of Tshwane without power

What happened

A fire at the Pyramid substation in Rooiwal, north of Tshwane, in the early hours of Wednesday 2 October 2024 left parts of the area without electricity. According to the report, a 132 kV line tripped and panels at the substation caught fire. Areas fed from the Pyramid substation, including Pretoria North, Wonderboom, Wolmer, Pyramid, Pumulani, Koedoespoort and parts of Waltloo, were affected. The city said all affected substations had been switched back on except Pyramid, which remained off while repairs were carried out.

At the time of the update, only the Rooiwal sewage plant and households around the Pyramid substation were reported to be without supply. The city said technicians were working around the clock and that a restoration estimate would follow once most repairs were complete. The cause of the fire had not been determined.

Contributing factors

The cause of the fire has not been determined. The source reports that a 132 kV line tripped and that panels at the substation caught fire, but does not say which happened first.

Lessons learned

1. Investigate protection and fault-clearing settings at substations where a line trip is followed by fire in switchgear panels, to establish whether they contributed.
2. Plan backup supply routes so that a single substation outage does not leave sewage works and other critical loads without power for long periods.
3. Give affected customers regular updates and a restoration estimate as soon as repair scope is known.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Source

jacarandafm.com