Preparations commence to reconnect Karoo with Eskom electricity

Eskom has informed the Western Cape Government (WCG) that it is on track to reconnect electricity to the Karoo from 12:00 midday onwards tomorrow, 15 February. This is possible since all the temporary structures needed are in place and the stringing of conductors is progressing and should to be completed later today. The focus will now shift from a repair project to the gradual restarting of an entire electrical network.

This update was shared during a daily update meeting between Eskom, Premier Alan Winde, Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning as well as senior members of the Western Cape Government earlier this morning.

“We will be monitoring the restart tomorrow very closely with Eskom. This process is described as a ‘cold start’ because restarting the grid will take a number of hours. There may also be other outages or disruptions as a result of the grid restarting,” noted Premier Winde during the briefing.

“Eskom informed us that the restarting involves 7 substations and several cold transformers in Laingsburg and the surrounding area. This will be a gradual process that involves the warming-up of transformers, starting at 12:00 tomorrow, and people can expect to have electricity later during the day, depending on how the process unfolds,” Minister Bredell said.

“I want to appeal to the public to please work with us during the restart. I understand how frustrated and desperate people are feeling after over 12 days without Eskom power. You are residents can play a huge role in making this reconnection of electrical power successful. Please ensure all appliances in your house or business are switched off to avoid a large and sudden load on the network. Please allow some time for the network to stabilise and reconnect your devices gradually to the live power. I know that many of you will want to start recharging your devices and warming up your geysers, but we do need to manage demand and switch on our appliances and geysers in a phased manner” Premier Winde said.

The WCG will support Eskom with this process, as government services currently using generators will continue running these generators for some time to help lessen the load on the cold network.

Residents are requested to report any electrical faults to Eskom during this cold restart, as Eskom expects that there is a strong possibility of other disruptions as a result of this reconnection process.

The Western Cape Department of Social Development is continuing with food relief efforts in affected parts of the Central Karoo. Hundreds of households in various towns and informal settlements have been assisted over the last few days.

The Department also enabled three old age facilities in Prince Albert, Laingsburg, and Ladismith, to buy diesel for generators as their diesel supplies have been running low.

“It is thanks to the hard work and commitment of DSD staff that have been working around the clock to ensure we reach the most vulnerable citizens in the Central Karoo. I also wish to thank all the stakeholders who assisted us to deliver extensive food relief in such a short space of time over an expansive region: the NGOs, municipalities, volunteers, farmers, and corporates,” said Provincial Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez.

Premier Winde thanked all role players for the hard work they had put in over the past several days. “This has been a herculean task, compounded by various factors. But by coming together and combining all our efforts we are on track to restore power to all affected areas by tomorrow. I want to thank the residents for their patience. This has been an exceptionally difficult time for them.”