HRA - Community Brief November 2020

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY CONCERNS - Vegetation encroachment of the Msunduzi Municipal electrical infrastructure is an ongoing cause of faults, particularly in the Winterskloof area. We would like to remind residents to submit any information to the HRA where this has been identified within private property, or where vegetation from within a private property is encroaching any electrical infrastructure adjacent to a private property but outside the private property boundary itself. The frequency of faults in the Winterskloof area is significantly high and mainly due to vegetation encroachment, particularly when wet or during windy conditions.

 

It would be in the interests of all residents living in this area to make a concerted effort to identify any potential problem areas and submit same to the HRA. Rob Maitland-Stuart has been liaising with the Msunduzi Electricity Dept., with a view to getting this issue addressed via routine line clearance patrols. The applicable manager responsible for Ops and Maintenance has given the undertaking that a plan will be established soonest and the work scheduled accordingly.

 

Furthermore, the primary 33kV supply to Hilton continues to be of major concern and Rob together with the HRA have attended several meetings with the Msunduzi Municipality to get this matter attended to as a matter of urgent priority. The latest status provided by the municipality is to have the 33kV network upgraded in this financial year (2020/21) by replacing all 33kV cable sections with heavier equivalents and thereby maximise the power transfer capability with that of the overhead line sections that were upgraded some 7 years ago.

 

In so doing, the two 33kV feeders supplying Hilton’s Crossways S/S will be far more robust and have the necessary redundancy required to ensure that if one of the feeders faults the other will be more than capable of supporting the ever-increasing Hilton load. In stating that however, there still remain major concerns w.r.t. the Crossways Primary S/S itself in that it is long overdue for major refurbishment/replacement (46 years old) and currently does not provide the necessary transformation redundancy required, having 2 x 15MVA 33/11kV transformers installed supplying a load of ±18MVA. Rob and his HRA team continue to engage with the municipality w.r.t. all these concerns and trust these efforts will eventually produce fruit at some point.

 

HBi – HRA continues to support this project and thanks Janice Shipway who has stepped in to cover for Cilla Hillcove during her maternity leave.

 

Your HRA aims to keep in touch and we welcome your suggestions and feedback, please accept these emails as an invitation to respond with your comments and constructive criticisms.

 

Sincerely

Mike Tarr
HRA Chairman