The City of Cape Town, which is responsible for delivering energy to the 4,8 million residents of the Western Cape, has awarded ABB a three-year contract for a phased retrofit of legacy medium voltage (MV) switchgear within its electrical infrastructure.
The new contract follows the success of an initial 2020 project, which saw more than four hundred 11 kV oil filled circuit breakers and over 100 SF6 insulated circuit breakers replaced with next-generation ABB VD4 vacuum circuit breakers, safely disposing of 160 kg of potent SF6 gas.
Now, the City has teamed up once again with ABB to install additional 12 kV VD4 circuit breakers and ancillary equipment to replace their ageing LMX installations. The devices will clear potentially harmful short-circuit faults in tens of milliseconds, preventing severe damage to electrical infrastructure, and minimising the risk of downtime, particularly critical for the Western Cape during planned loadshedding.
Enhanced safety for operators was also a key consideration, with the installation of a type tested Arc-vent door behind which the racking of the circuit breakers is completed.
Frans Bouwer, ABB regional manager for the Western Cape, said: “We are proud to be a long-term service provider for the City of Cape Town, and delighted to be selected to support them on this milestone modernisation project. Improving the reliability of the power supply is crucial for the Western Cape, but this project goes much further. The city not only invested in an upgrade which would increase the quality and availability of power supply, but also sought a sustainable solution which supported the circular economy.”
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