An explosion at the Unit 4 generator at the Medupi power station in Limpopo has knocked out an adjacent unit, Eskom said on Monday. It’s not yet clear if this will lead to load shedding in the coming week.
An explosion at 10.50pm on Sunday at Unit 4 “is suspected to have resulted in Unit 5 tripping”, the state-owned utility said.
“No injuries have been reported and all employees and contractors have been accounted for. Emergency services attended to seven colleagues requiring treatment for shock.”
At the time of the explosion, Unit 4 was on a short-term outage – since Friday, 6 August – and all work at the unit has now been suspended.
“This includes the suspension of all permits to work on the plant until further notice. The area was secured and, once it has been cleared by the fire chief and resident engineers, inspections and assessments will begin to determine the cause of the incident and extent of the damage caused.”
Investigations
Eskom is already working to restore Unit 5 to service.
“Investigations are under way into the cause of the incident and Eskom will update the public on developments, as well as to what extent will this unfortunate incident impact the national electricity grid,” the utility said. – © 2021 NewsCentral Media
