The new 66kV (66 000 volts) substation was completed in June and officially opened on Friday. The substation is located at the Outeniqua Experi-mental Farm and was built at a cost of R16-million. The second substation is the 132kV (132 000 volts) Schaapkop substation, which is currently under way and will cost an additional R109 million. This brings the total cost of the electrical upgrades to a whopping R125 million.
At the opening ceremony Rohann Steenekamp from local consulting electrical and mechanical engineers, Clinkscales Maughan-Brown (CMB), said the substation is the result of many years’ planning and negotiations. "The substation was done in collaboration with Eskom to strengthen the bulk electricity supply to George and the region."
The substation is located on a sloped site which used to be agricultural land. Steenekamp said because of this a cut and fill operation was required. "Several environmental factors were taken into account to prevent silt from entering natural draining lines."
He said the much needed substation was built using the latest technology. "A very modern protection scheme was implemented where optic fibre communication is used between the equipment inside the control room and the equipment outside in the 66kV yard."
George is growing at a rate of more than 4% per year, so it is crucial that electricity supply and infrastructure keep up with local growth.
The project was under the direction of CMB and the main electrical contractor was VE Reticulation from Mossel Bay and George. The George municipality, Eskom and the Oute-niqua Experimental Farm were involved, while an additional seven private firms were employed as sub-consultants and sub-contractors.
Renewable energy
At a recent council meeting it came to light that the establish-ment of a district renewable energy forum by the munici-pality is going ahead.
The purpose of the forum is to speed up processes that would lead to a situation where renewable energy could be gene-rated for resale. The ideal is to generate enough so it could be sold via the national grid as a valuable source of income for the municipality.
A report on a solar panel project provided for in the 2010/11 budget, is also in the pipeline.
Article and photos: Ilse Schoonraad
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At the opening of the substation were from the left Charles Daniels (Eskom), Morne Olivier (CMB), Johan van Rensburg (VE Reticulation), Rohann Steenekamp (CMB), Mike Padfield (George Municipality), Johan Möller (George Municipality), Kevin Grünewald (George Municipality), Jurie van der Westhuizen (George Municipality), Andries van den Berg (VE Reticulation), Fred D’Elmiljo (VE Reticulation) and Chris Willemse (ISHS).
