Joburg grid collapse warning
The City of Johannesburg says it has implemented load reduction to prevent the electricity grid from collapsing.
In a statement released on Thursday, 13 June 2024, executive mayor Kabelo Gwamanda says he supports City Power’s precautionary measures to prevent a grid collapse.
He added that a grid collapse is an eventuality which would have catastrophic consequences for the city’s residents.
The City of Johannesburg is calling upon its residents to heed the call to reduce energy consumption to ensure that the grid doesn’t collapse.
“City Power is committed to providing reliable and sustainable electricity to all its customers,” said Jack Sekwalla, MMC for environment, infrastructure, and services in Johannesburg.
“We understand the inconvenience caused by these measures, but our systems have reached critical levels due to high electricity demand coupled with rampant illegal connections that further strain the electricity grid.”
City Power started implementing load reduction in the city on Monday, 10 June 2024, to protect the grid’s integrity.
Eighty areas across Gauteng are affected by load reduction between 06:00 and 10:00 in the mornings and 16:00 and 22:00 in the evenings.
Sekwalla explained that load reduction doesn’t remove power entirely from an area but rather reduces the supply of electricity to these areas.
He said City Power will switch off geysers remotely if required. This is done using ripple receivers installed in areas where demand for electricity increases.
City Power also announced its plans to implement load-limiting through smart meters in the city.
“The entity has also embarked on a project of increasing the installation of solar geysers in low-income households across the city, removing another bulk of weight from the grid,” added Sekwalla.
“While these measures and others such as and cut offs of illegal connections are currently underway to relieve the burden on the electricity network due to the increase in energy demand, City Power has to implement load reduction to prevent system overload.”
Sekwalla noted that City Power has recorded significant increases in the average evening peak in areas of Johannesburg, with some areas’ consumption increasing by as much as 65%.
“During January and March this year, the average off-peak consumption at some substations has been sitting at 20MW. Between April and May, consumption went up by 50%, increasing the off-peak load to 30MW,” he said.
The South African National Energy Development Institute’s Professor Sampson Mamphweli explained how power suppliers implement load reduction.
“In some circumstances, households can have two circuit breakers. The one breaker will allow for a higher capacity and the other a lower capacity,” he said.
“During load reduction, the city will switch off the higher capacity breaker, and you will remain with the lower capacity breaker.”
Mamphweli said interventions like load reduction are critical to prevent transformers from being damaged.
He explained that a transformer’s capacity depends on the area it serves, and significant demand increases can put them at risk of failure.
Large areas can be left without power for extensive periods when this occurs.
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