By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom has confirmed that an explosion has occurred at one of its coal-fired power stations.
This comes after energy analyst Chris Yelland tweeted he had received a report from a “reliable source” of a transformer explosion at the Camden Power Station in Mpumalanga.
The tweet was accompanied by an image showing a fire at the station.
The utility said an internal fault resulted in a transformer explosion on Unit 8 of the Camden Power Station. The unit produces approximately 190MW.
“The fire has been contained, and no injuries have been reported,” Eskom said.
The utility said an investigation would determine the cause, the extent of the damage and the possible return to service of the unit.
It added it did not expect the event to disrupt the electricity supply to the country.
The latest incident follows a raft of explosions and fires at several of Eskom’s power stations over the past year.
Fires that broke out at Kendal in February 2021 and again in September 2021 disrupted operations and resulted in units going offline, cutting down available capacity at the time.
In August 2021,a massive explosion destroyed a generator at Medupi Unit 4, cutting around 700MW of supply from the grid.