Factors influencing electric power transmission on the reef

The first three power stations of the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company, Limited, were located on the Reef, at Brakpan, Simmerpan and Eosherville. These stations were adjacent to the load centres and long distance transmission lines were not necessary for conveying the power* from the stations to the various load points. In the early days, the distribution network on the Reef consisted of 10 kV and 20 kV overhead lines and, at a later### date, 40 kV distribution feeders and interconncctors were adopted. “With the growth of load and the general extension of the system, it became necessary to construct further power stations and, for reasons not relevant to the subject matter of this paper, these stations were located some distance from the Reef; the first of these was Vereeniging, 35 miles to the south of Johannesburg, followed by Witbank, 64 miles north-east of Brakpan and, later, Klip was installed, this station being about 32 miles to the south of Johannesburg.