Page 19 - Energize June 2022

NEWS

Unit 4 of the Kusile power station enters

commercial operation

skom has announced that, following delays as the country needs every megawatt of power it can get,” said Bheki Nxumalo, the
five months of vigorous testing Eskom Group Executive for Capital Projects. Nxumalo further appreciates Eskom Guardians
Eand optimisation, Unit 4 of the and Contractors, who worked tirelessly to deliver the unit to its successful commercial
Kusile Power Station Project has been operation.
handed over to the Generation division to The unit has undergone a series of tests while intermittently supplying electricity over
formally be part of the Eskom commercial the past five months. Since synchronization in December 2021, the unit has performed
fleet. to expectation, intermittently sending up to 720 MW and contributing to reducing the
This handover marks another implementation of loadshedding.
milestone in Eskom’s efforts to stabilise At completion, the station will consist of six units, and will produce a maximum 4800
the power system in that it has formally MW. Construction and commissioning activities on the remaining Kusile Units 5 and 6
added a much-needed 800 MW to the continue to progress according to plan. Situated near eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, Kusile is
country’s power system. The unit had South Africa’s largest construction project and will be the world’s fourth largest coal plant at
been connected to the national grid for completion.
the first time on 23 December 2021. Eskom is fitting wet flue gas desulphurisation (WFGD) to the Kusile plant as an
“This milestone means the atmospheric emission abatement technology, in line with current international practice, to
construction of four out of the six ensure compliance with air quality standards, making it more environmentally friendly.
generation units have now been Kusile is the first power station in Africa to use WFGD technology. WFGD is the state-
completed at the Kusile Power Station of-the-art technology used to remove oxides of sulphur (SOx), for example, sulphur dioxide
project. The Kusile project team and (SO2), in the emissions of power plants that burn coal or oil.
Eskom are working tirelessly to complete
the rest of the project without any further Contact Eskom Media Desk, Phone 011 800-3433/5944/6050, mediadesk@eskom.co.za

Kusile Power Station

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