Eskom has spent R250m so far on the construction of temporary stacks at the plant
Eskom does not yet know what it will cost to make permanent repairs at Kusile power station in Mpumalanga where three generation units were taken offline after a big breakdown in October.
In October last year a 9m diameter flue gas desulphurisation duct, which carries emissions from unit 1 into a large chimney, collapsed under the weight of ash build-up inside the pipe. The chimney also houses the flue gas ducts for units 2 and 3. As a result all three units — with a combined generation capacity of 2,100MW — had to be shut down, contributing to two full stages of load-shedding.
However, he said, the temporary repairs for units 1, 2 and 3 are on track to be completed by December 24. Unit 5, which has not yet been commissioned, should be “fully running” by April 2024. Together this will add about 3,200MW of generation capacity, enough to mitigate three stages of load-shedding.“Kusile is particularly important to the resolution of load-shedding in the country. If the three units were operating today, they could each give us about 800MW,” said Ramokgopa.
It allows the utility to build and operate temporary stacks for units 1, 2 and 3 without the use of the flue gas desulphurisation mechanism for 13 months. This is likely to result in increases in sulphur dioxide emissions, a step which environmental groups have warned will have major health consequences for people living near the power station.
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