By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility Eskom says that the main mechanical work on replacing the steam generators at Koeberg’s Unit 1 has been completed and it will return to service on 3 November.
The unit was taken offline for refuelling and maintenance.
The utility says mechanical work to replace the steam generators was completed in July.
“This is the most significant part of the scope which involved complex activities and it means that Eskom is now proceeding with the outage activities that could not be performed in parallel with the replacement of the steam generators,” said Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena.
“Immediately after the completion of the outage activities, the reactor will be reloaded with fuel enabling the return to service of the unit.”
The new steam generators will also be tested and synchronised to the grid.
Each unit of Koeberg generates 900MW when the plant is operating optimally, equal to two load-shedding stages. There have been numerous delays to the project to replace the steam generators on Unit 1, fuelling concerns that both units would be offline simultaneously. Mokwena says it has now mitigated that risk.
The replacement of the steam generators was first proposed in 2014. It has been held up by litigation and other issues.
Last year, an attempt to start the project in January had to be aborted after French contractors Framatome arrived to find thatEskom had not completed the containment building to store the radio-active old steam generators after removal.
After the project restarted in January 2023, the timeline for the return of Unit 1 has shifted several times.
Framatome has lodged hundreds of claims against Eskom for delays, while Eskom has issued counterclaims. As these will take a long time to resolve, Eskom does not have an accurate picture of the final costs of the projects. The lion’s share of the contract was paid upfront to Framatome long before it actually commenced.
Mokwena said Koeberg’s Unit 2 will be taken offline later this year.
“Due to the deferment of the return of Unit 1, the outage of Unit 2 has been postponed to 7 November 2023 to ensure that there is no simultaneous shutdown of both Koeberg units and can confirm that resources are ready to start with the first activities of Unit 2 outage.”
This means South Africa will continue to operate with only one unit at a time, well into 2025.