By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom’s Kusile Unit 3 was returned to service on Saturday, two months ahead of its planned return date, the power utility said in a statement.
It will improve generation by 800 MW once loaded to full capacity, Eskom said. This could have a marked impact, as each stage of load shedding is intended to reduce demand by around 1 000 MW.
“Kusile Power Station Unit 3 is returned to service two months ahead of schedule and will improve the available generation capacity by 800 MW once loaded to full capacity. This marks a significant milestone in Eskom’s efforts to reduce and ultimately end load shedding,” it said.
“The switch on was done after receiving the positive decision on the Kusile Atmospheric Emission Licence (AEL) appeal from the Minister of Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the Nkangala District Municipality.”
Eskom announced in August that it was progressing well with the Kusile returns and later confirmed that the planned dates for operation would be brought forward.
In October 2022, the Kusile West stack failed, causing three generating units (units 1,2 and 3) to be decommissioned.
Eskom’s short-term solution was to erect three temporary stacks that would not include Flue Gas Delsuphurisation (FGD) plants..
Unit 3 was planned to be back online at the end of November 2023, with the remaining two units back up in December. However, unit 3 is now back up, with the remaining unit expected to be online earlier than planned as well.
Eskom has been pinning a lot of hope on the units returning. Along with Unit 4, which was also recently synchronised and activated – getting Kusile online would add close to 3,000MW to the grid, giving the utility more room to balance load shedding and the increased planned maintenance.
During its system outlook for summer, Eskom noted that the return of the Kusile units was vital to avoiding the worst-case scenario for the next six months, which would see load shedding pushed to stage 6 for over 200 days, perhaps even moving past that level.
However, with more room to balance the grid, load shedding can be kept under stage 4, it said.
That said, this does not mean the end of load shedding by any means.
As the summer months approach and planned maintenance is ramped up, the grid will remain under severe strain. In addition to this, Unit 2 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station will also be taken offline, negating the return of almost 1,000MW when Unit 1 is brought back.
The return of Kusile Unit 3 also does not come without a cost – it was only possible because Eskom was granted exemptions from meeting environmental standards.