Johannesburg power outage worsens after Central Substation explosion

City Power says the explosion has delayed restoration efforts, with a new estimated time of restoration to be announced once the site is safe.

Johannesburg residents and businesses in parts of the inner city face a prolonged power outage after an explosion at the Central Substation disrupted efforts to restore electricity.

City Power said the explosion occurred on Wednesday night while technical teams were working to restore supply to a newly installed feeder board. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.

The incident has set back restoration efforts, with the utility warning that electricity would not return by midday on Thursday as previously expected.

What caused the Central Substation explosion?

According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, a device that initially failed on Tuesday malfunctioned again on Wednesday night as technicians attempted to restore the electricity supply.

The explosion occurred during this process, although the full extent of the damage was not immediately known.

City Power said a new estimated time of restoration would be communicated once the site had been declared safe and teams could assess the situation.

The utility had been working to restore electricity to affected customers, but the latest incident has complicated those efforts.

Which Johannesburg areas are affected?

The outage affects several parts of Johannesburg’s inner city, including:

• Marshalltown
• Parts of the inner city
• Selby Street
• Sections of Albert Street
• Sections of Eloff Street
• Sections of Commissioner Street
• Sections of Anderson Street

Residents and businesses in these areas should prepare for an extended interruption while City Power assesses the damage and works on restoring supply.

City Power issues safety warning

City Power has urged the public to keep away from the Central Substation and surrounding electricity infrastructure while technical teams carry out their work.

Customers have been warned not to approach the substation, underground cable tunnels, manholes or other electrical infrastructure.

The utility said further updates, including a revised estimated time of restoration, would be provided once the site was safe and the extent of the damage had been established.

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Source: The Citizen