By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility has successfuly synchronised Unit 5 of the Kusile Power Station to the country’s national grid for the first time on December 31.
The successful synchronization followed a proclamation by South African Electricity Minister Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa last September that four out of service units at the Kusile power station in Mpumalanga are predicted to reincorporate into the grid by end-2023.
Eskom said Unit 5 would supply electricity intermittently during the testing and optimisation phase over the next six months before being transferred into commercial operation and the capacity officially added to the current Eskom fleet.
Eskom group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo said the synchronisation marked another significant milestone of sustainably improving the utility’s generation performance.
“We are encouraged that this achievement of our recovery plan immediately follows the return of the three units that were brought online from end September 2023, bringing a total of 3,200MW into the grid,” Nxumalo said.
He added the development would further improve Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) and help strengthen South Africa’s electricity capacity.
Nxumalo thanked the Kusile Project team for their commitment and “relentless” efforts in ensuring the project was completed.
“I have confidence that they will continue to work with determination to successfully deliver Unit 5 to commercial operation,” said Nxumalo.
Eskom’s acting group CEO Calib Cassim said the addition of the unit’s capacity would bring hope to South Africans.
“There is enormous effort made to continue the remarkable progress on the new build programme and the Generation Recovery Plan, “said Cassim.
“We remain focused on improving the performance of the generation fleet to reduce the impact of load-shedding felt countrywide, and to lessen the costs on supplementing capacity using the diesel-powered plant.”
Eskom added there was progress in the construction and commissionint of the last Kusile unit yet to be brought online — Unit 6.
Unit 6 will be synchronised to the grid by August 2024. This will be followed by similar testing as Unit 5 before commercial operation.
Eskom originally planned to have Kusile completed by 2014, but the project was substantially delayed due to corruption and design defects. Its costs have also ballooned to over R161 billion from an original budget of R81 billion.