Page 18 - Issue 2 2023

TECHNICAL

Copper cable theft prevention

Theft of copper conductors has become a major problem in the electricity distribution industry.
South Africa’s state-owned entities such as Eskom and Transnet lose several billion to cable theft
each year. The indirect costs to the economy are estimated at R187 billion per annum.

By Mike Rycroft, Energize

ost theft takes place in the distribution network. Load shedding has provided a Cable marking
window of opportunity for cable theft, as cables are deactivated for the period of Marking property is becoming standard in
Mload shedding, street lighting is absent, and any monitoring systems that rely on many industries to help companies trace
the presence of voltage would be ineffective under load shedding. back stolen or lost equipment. Cables can
The biggest driver of cable theft is the demand for copper, a commodity that has be marked by the use of tapes included in
played a crucial role in global industrialisation. While the uses for copper have changed and the cable, etching or microdots.
technology infrastructure has advanced, it is still an essential component for infrastructure In the microdot system cables (even
across many industries. With copper being a valuable commodity, there is an illicit market for already installed cables) are infused with
this metal. an indelible fluid that contains unique
microscopic identifiers (coded microdots)
Legislation that can withstand being burnt, being
Stolen goods are of no value unless there is a buyer. Government has taken the threat of granulated and melted into ingots. The
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copper theft seriously and passed legislation which affects the sale and purchase of scrap liquid contains microdots that can be
copper. It is suspected that most of the copper stolen in this country is exported, and in an encoded with information ranging from
attempt to curb the purchase and sale of stolen copper, the government placed a six month production details to the address of the
ban on the export of copper and copper-alloy scrap, as well as most ferrous scrap, as part of premises. The liquid will transfer to skin,
the first phase of a three-phase intervention designed to combat the rampant theft of the clothing or hair and remain detectable
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metals used in public infrastructure. for over six months. This method of
tracing is almost impossible to remove
Deterring cable theft and is invisible to the naked eye and small
Although legislation may make it more difficult to sell stolen cables, measures to prevent theft traces are enough for law enforcement
from taking place are considered to be more effective. Cable theft prevention can be passive authorities to identify the original owners.
or active. Passive methods make stealing cable inconvenient and costly to the criminal while While this method is relatively inexpensive
active methods aim to apprehend criminals and alert property owners and authorities. it is unlikely that marking conductors
Solutions range from using complex alarm and surveillance systems, and advanced would deter thieves at the outset, but if
conductor identification systems, to simple mechanical means which make it more difficult tracing cables become widely used, thieves
to remove the cables or conductors, or the use of conductors which have no scrap value. might be prosecuted more consistently,
There are three areas affected by theft of electrical conductors: Overhead distribution thereby making theft less appealing.
cables, underground cables and substation earthing and cabling. An issue with this method is that many
companies legitimately recycle copper
Overhead distribution cable theft and sell unusable or excess portions
Many older suburbs still use overhead copper cables for distribution, and these have become to scrappers to recuperate costs. So,
a target for cable theft. The standard method is to steal one span at a time by cutting the marked cables could be legitimately sold
end of one span at pole level on the transformer side, allowing the cable to fall to the to the same location, making it difficult
ground and then cutting the other end at ground level. This can be accomplished in a very
short time. Only a short piece of copper is removed but all users on that phase are without
power. Thieves have found that the neutral cable is not live and there is a tendency to cut
the neutral cable, in preference to phases. This plays havoc with voltages at the consumer
terminal. Municipalities have combatted this by replacing overhead copper with aerial
bundled cable (ABC) which seems to have been an effective deterrent.

Underground cable theft
Underground cable theft is not casual theft but is carried out by well organised (and
sometimes armed) gangs equipped with machinery that enables the removal of long lengths
of cable. There are several deterrents. Figure 1: Typical microdot identifier 4

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