Maintenance work at Bukit Badong substation cannot be postponed - TNB

The maintenance work at the Bukit Badong substation in Kuala Selangor scheduled for tomorrow cannot be postponed as it must be carried out immediately and safely, said Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB)'s Corporate Affairs and Communications senior general manager Datuk Mohd Aminuddin Mohd Amin.

He said the work which has been scheduled for 16 hours must be carried out to ensure continuity of water supply.

In a statement here today, he said the date to temporarily shut down the substation was made collectively at a meeting with the National Water Services Commission (SPAN), which was also attended by representatives from water industy players.

"If the work is postponed further, there is a possibility of a flashover occurring at any time and the repairs would take up to three weeks," he said, adding that was also the risk of a major power outage should the maintenance work be delayed.

Yesterday, TNB announced that the main water supply treatment plants in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur would experience electricity disruption following maintenance work at the Bukit Badong substation.

This would lead to 814 areas in the Klang Valley involving 707,759 accounts or 3,892,641 consumers experiencing disruption in water supply due to the maintenance work on the substation.

Consumers have been complaining that the timing for the maintenance work was bad as it was to near the Christmas holidays.

Meanwhile, at a press conference here, TNB Chief Corporate Officer Datuk Roslan Ab Rahman suggested that the related water operators upgrade their back-up generators to mitigate the situation.

He said the existing gensets could not cope with the load differential when such maintenance work was done.

"This is a suggestion so that there will be minimal impact on consumers," he said. -- BERNAMA