Eskom proudly announced on Thursday its Unit 4 of the Kusile Power Station Project has been connected to the national power grid for the first time.
The synchronisation milestone took place on December 23 and means four generating units of the power station are now connected to the grid and will now be able to contribute an additional 800MW to the country’s power system once the unit is fully optimised following a series of tests and other commissioning activities.
Eskom said the synchronised unit will supply electricity intermittently during its testing and optimisation phase over the next six months before its handover to the generation division in order to officially be part of the commercial fleet.
Eskom’s group executive for Group Capital, Bheki Nxumalo said this milestone is just what South Africa and its economy needs.
“This achievement signifies the relentless efforts from the team in ensuring that the power station project is completed without any further delays, which would help strengthen South Africa’s electricity capacity.
“I am grateful for the commitment displayed by the Kusile Execution Team and its contractors,” Nxumalo said.
The power utility said its construction and commission activities on Kusile Units 5 and 6 continue as planned, and once completed, the power station will consist of six units which will be producing a maximum of 4 800MW.
Kusile is the country’s largest construction project and will be the world’s fourth largest coal plant once completed.
Eskom is currently fitting wet flue gas desulphurisation (WFGD) to the Kusile plant as an atmospheric emission abatement technology, making it more environmentally friendly.
Kusile is the first power station in South Africa and Africa to use WFGD technology.
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