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Unreliable Uitenhage and KwaNobuhle Electricity Supply being addressed

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The old problem of an unreliable electricity supply to the Uitenhage and KwaNobuhle distribution areas in Nelson Mandela Bay will soon be a thing of the past – thanks to a more than R50 million renovation and maintenance investment in the Nivens Drift and the Mabandla Substations.

At Nivens Drift, the project entails the building of a new 132/11kV load centre with 132 kV power lines, bringing the power into the substation for local distribution at 11 kV in the western area of Uitenhage.

This project will guarantee a reliable and safe electricity supply to the affected areas. It will add significant capacity in the western areas of Uitenhage for additional electricity demand in wards 45, 48, 46 and 47. The renovation work at Nivens Drift will be completed towards the end of 2017.

At the Mabandla Substation in KwaNobuhle, more than R10 million will be spent on refurbishing the medium voltage switchgear. This work will drastically reduce the number of faults on the system, a frequent cause of electricity outages for the residents of KwaNobuhle. This project will be finished next year in June.

“We are all too aware that our level of power outages is still too high, particularly in Uitenhage and Despatch and the Northern Areas. We are determined to bring the level of power failures down to the absolute minimum. We are aggressively attacking the two main reasons for the outages, namely old and failing infrastructure and vandalism and theft,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Electricity and Energy, Councillor Anette Lovemore.

These projects are only two among many projects that the Municipality will embark on in improving electricity and energy infrastructure across the City. Other work that is currently underway includes exploring solar energy alternatives to supplement our energy demand, replacing high energy consuming street lights to LED energy saving lights, and improving security at substations.

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NMB Communications

Media Communications at Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Communications Department is responsible for communicating pertinent Municipal news from Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch. Municipality Contact Details. See more articles by NMB Communication's.