City Power has restored 45% of the electricity supply affected by the latest fire at its Central Substation, bringing power back to key parts of Johannesburg’s inner city earlier than initially anticipated.

The power utility said the milestone was reached by 7pm on Wednesday, September 30, after technical teams worked around the clock to repair damaged infrastructure and reconfigure the network.

City Power had previously indicated that restoring supply could take at least seven days following the fire.

The latest progress is the most significant restoration milestone since the incident and has allowed electricity to be restored to the Carlton Centre and Standard Bank.

Supply to Selby has also been restored through an alternative route.

City Power acting chief executive officer Charles Tlouane attributed the progress to the coordinated restoration operation, as well as network configuration work undertaken following the previous fire at the substation.

He said the earlier work had allowed some plants that had been out of service to be brought back online, helping the utility restore supply sooner than expected.

“We are encouraged by the progress made so far, particularly that we have restored 45% of the affected supply by last night, earlier than the anticipated seven-day period,” said Tlouane.

“This progress reflects the coordinated efforts of our teams, who have been working around the clock, as well as the network configuration work undertaken during the previous fire incident.”

Technical teams have been repairing damaged cables, testing equipment and working to safely return sections of the network to service.

City Power said critical cables supplying the Carlton Centre and Standard Bank had been successfully tested, cleared and returned to operation.

Teams are continuing to work on the remaining faults, including locating affected sections of the network before repairs can be carried out.

Repairs are also continuing on the Fox Street West cable.

The utility is also rerouting some cables to alternative supply points to restore electricity to additional customers while work continues on damaged infrastructure.

The Marshall Street West and Anderson West connections are among those being rerouted to available supply points.

City Power said the approach would allow some customers to be supplied while permanent repairs are carried out on the affected sections.

At the Central Substation, further testing and cleaning of electrical equipment is also under way.

According to the utility, equipment that has already undergone testing has performed satisfactorily. Teams are continuing to clean and secure electrical connections before final testing is completed.

Additional support structures are also being installed inside underground tunnels to allow technical teams to safely access infrastructure and continue repair work.

The utility said restoration would take place progressively as individual repairs were completed and infrastructure was confirmed safe to return to service.

However, City Power has not provided a final restoration time for all remaining affected customers.

“Further restoration will take place as each set of repairs is completed and the relevant infrastructure is confirmed safe to return to service,” the utility said.

The prolonged disruption has affected residents and businesses in parts of Johannesburg, with City Power acknowledging the impact of the outage.

The utility said it appreciated the patience of affected customers while technical teams continued working on the damaged infrastructure.

Customers who experience isolated outages after electricity has been restored to their area have been urged to report faults through City Power’s mobile platform or by calling 011 490 7484 or 080 020 2925.

City Power also appealed to residents to report suspicious activity involving electricity infrastructure to its Security Risk Management unit.

Reports can be made on 011 490 7900, 011 490 7911 or via WhatsApp on 083 579 4497.

While the restoration of 45% of the affected supply represents significant progress, City Power said repairs, testing and network rerouting would continue before the remaining customers could be fully reconnected.