Rotating power cuts hit parts of Kloof as cold weather strains Durban supply

Parts of Kloof in Durban are experiencing rotating power cuts after one of two incoming supply circuits at the Kloof Substation failed, leaving the facility operating on a single circuit while repairs are carried out.

What happened

The eThekwini Municipality’s Electricity and Energy Directorate said teams are working to identify and repair the fault at the Kloof Substation. One incoming supply circuit has failed and the substation is currently operating on the remaining circuit, which is under extra pressure because of increased demand during cold weather.

How the cuts are being managed

To protect the transformer from overload while the substation runs on a single circuit, the municipality is implementing a rotating load reduction. Approximately 2MW of electricity will be dropped at a time so the transformer can operate within safe limits.

The load reduction will be rotated every two hours until 22:00 tonight. The municipality said the rotating cuts may continue tomorrow, depending on network conditions and progress with repairs.

Affected areas

Residents in the following areas could experience periods without electricity as the municipality rotates the load reduction:

• Chelmsfordville
• Forest Hills
• Kloof
• Krantzkloof
• Padfield Park

Customer service and repair work

The directorate said its Contact Centre is receiving high call volumes because of the inclement weather, which has led to longer-than-usual call handling times. Customers are encouraged to use the municipality’s digital platforms to log electricity outages and faults; once logged, faults will be queued for investigation and restoration.

Electricity teams are assessing whether some load can be redistributed to other substations while fault-finding and repair work continues on the damaged supply circuit.

Advice to residents

Residents in the affected areas were advised to prepare for the rotating disruptions, particularly during periods of high electricity demand.