Winde pleased with rollout of backup power systems in the Western Cape
Earlier this year, the Western Cape government released funding of nearly R89 million for municipalities to purchase generators to ensure essential services are kept running during unprecedented levels of power cuts.
CAPE TOWN - Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, said he was happy to see that the Drakenstein Municipality has now put emergency backup power systems in place to protect essential services during Eskom's power cuts.
South Africa shifted back to stage 6 power cuts this week with Eskom attributing the leap to intensified planned maintenance and the loss of two generation units on Monday.
Earlier this year the Western Cape government released funding of nearly R89 million for municipalities to purchase generators to ensure essential services like sanitation and water treatment are kept running during unprecedented levels of power cuts.
Two generators purchased with these funds have been installed at the Paarl Wastewater Treatment Works.
Winde said the municipality has also installed specially designed and innovative UPS [Uninterruptible Power Supply] systems at 41 major traffic intersections across Paarl to keep traffic lights operational during outages.
"They make sure that during load shedding at least up to four hours the traffic lights can still continue to operate. The really nice thing is that the municipality developed that alongside the local business who have now taken these innovations and not only delivered them to the Drakenstein Municipality but have also started to tender for similar back-ups in other municipalities around South Africa," said Winde.
