The M1 tunnel's damaged electricity infrastructure has been repaired, and power will be restored on Tuesday, according to City Power. The tunnel network sustained damage from a vandalism-related fire on May 1, causing power outages in Parktown, Newtown, Braamfontein, the Johannesburg CBD, and surrounding suburbs. City Power will request an emergency isolation to aid in fully restoring supply. There will be a brief interruption in power supply between 8 am and 10 am on Tuesday to transfer the load back to the Braamfontein substation. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena confirmed on Monday that the newly installed 88kV cable has passed the test.
“This morning [Tuesday] the team will move the load from some of the contingency measures put in place, such as interconnectors and a generator. That load will be moved back to the 88kV cable. That cable, with several others, was damaged by fire almost two weeks ago,” he said.
“Because [interconnector] cables are not designed to carry a huge load, we could not restore all customers at once. But by yesterday [Monday] more than 90% of customers had been restored using temporary measures.”
