Cable theft and substation fire cause Johannesburg power outages

What happened

A large power outage affected parts of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni on a Friday morning. City Power said the outage in the greater Randburg area was caused by cable theft, and it reported the matter to the police. Separately, Ekurhuleni municipality said that a fire in the early hours at the Rynfield substation in Benoni caused outages across the East Rand. The municipality said the fire affected four mini substations, and that the Rynfield and Crystal Park mini substations also caught fire.

Several suburbs lost power, and traffic lights on major Johannesburg roads stopped working, causing major delays. The municipality said it was uncertain when power would be restored while engineers worked on the problem.

Contributing factors

City Power attributed the Randburg outage to cable theft. The source does not state the cause of the Rynfield substation fire.

Lessons learned

1. Protect cable routes and substation sites against theft through patrols, fencing and monitoring, and report thefts promptly to police and the network operator.
2. Inspect and maintain substation equipment, including mini substations, so that faults are found before they develop into fires that spread to neighbouring units.
3. Plan traffic management and public communication for outages that disable traffic signals and where restoration time is uncertain.

More lessons on theft, arson and site security, spacing, layout and fire spread, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Source

jacarandafm.com