By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Unit 1 at Koeberg Power Station is expected to start supplying electricity to the national grid by the end of October, Eskom confirmed on Friday.
The unit’s steam generators were successfully replaced, with the power utility expecting it to be synchronised to grid by the end of the month.
The unit was taken offline for refuelling and maintenance.
Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena says this marks another milestone in the utility’s bid to rid the country of load shedding.
“Although it experienced some delays, the process of returning Unit 1 to service is intentionally thorough, as it is essential to ensure all the safety systems are functioning correctly and that the unit is ready to operate reliably for the duration of the upcoming cycle.
“The process required numerous tests of the safety systems, with more tests still to be performed before and after the start-up of the nuclear reaction”.
“The completion of the commissioning tests will end a long but safe steam generator replacement journey and signal the return of Unit 1 to commercial operation,” Mokoena said.
Mokoena added that the replacement of the steam generators was identified in the licence application for long-term operation of Koeberg that was submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR), as being a prerequisite for the station to operate safely beyond its original licensed operating period of 40 years (beyond 2024).
In the meantime, Eskom has applied to the NNR for separate expiry dates in the Koeberg licence for Unit 1 and Unit 2, based on the rationale that Unit 2 was commissioned about 18 months after Unit 1. Eskom is still awaiting a decision from the NNR in this regard.
If the NNR decision in respect of a separate extended expiry date in the Koeberg operating licence for Unit 2 is not granted, then it is possible that both Unit 1 and Unit 2 may have to shut down on 21 July 2024.