Eskom has announced that at least 800MW of energy will be added to the power system after the completion of the power utility’s Kusile Power Station Unit 4 project.

Eskom Capital Projects group executive, Bheki Nxumalo, said the official handover of the unit to Eskom’s generation division comes as a welcome relief to the constrained grid.

“This milestone means the construction of four out of the six generation units have now been completed at the Kusile Power Station project. The Kusile project team and Eskom are working tirelessly to complete the rest of the project without any delays, as the country needs every megawatt of power it can get,” he said.

According to Eskom, the unit was first connected to the grid on 21 December and has, over the past five months, undergone “vigorous testing and optimisation”.

“Since synchronisation in December 2021, the unit has performed to expectation, intermittently sending up to 720MW and contributing to reducing the implementation of load shedding,” Eskom said.

The power utility highlighted that the power station is using modern technology to make the power station more environmentally friendly.

“Eskom is fitting wet flue gas desulphurisation (WFGD) to the Kusile plant as an atmospheric emission abatement technology, in line with current international practice, to ensure compliance with air quality standards, making it more environmentally friendly.

“Kusile is the first power station in South Africa and Africa to use WFGD technology. WFGD is the state-of-the-art technology used to remove oxides of sulphur (SOx), for example, sulphur dioxide (SO2), in the emissions of power plants that burn coal or oil,” Eskom said.

Source: South African Government News Agency