A fire has damaged unit 6 at Eskom’s ageing Kriel power station in Mpumalanga. The incident was caused by a burst oil pipe. Unit 6, one of six units at the 3GW Kriel station, produces 475MW of electricity.
In a statement, Eskom said that at 5.04pm on Sunday evening, unit 6 at Kriel tripped following the loss of hydraulic oil to the turbine valves. “A preliminary investigation revealed that an oil pipe had broken, causing an oil spill on the hot surfaces of the turbine, which triggered a fire.”
The fire was reportedly quickly yextinguished.
Energy expert Anton Eberhard posted on X that he does not believe Kriel unit 6 will be repaired.
“Kriel power unit 6 caught fire last night – evidently from a burst oil pipe. I doubt it will be repaired,” Eberhard posted. “Kriel was commissioned in 1979 – 6 x 500MW. Eskom talks about extending the life of these old power stations but eventually they take themselves offline.”
Eskom said the incident will not result in the return of load shedding, which has been absent from South Africans’ lives since 26 March, or more than 220 days. “With this unit temporarily offline, total unplanned outages stand at 8.5GW — still 4.5GW below the base case for summer 2024.”
Picture improving
On Friday, Eskom said total unplanned outages over the previous seven days had declined to 9.5GW, a significant improvement on the 16GW of unplanned losses in the same period last year.
“The reduction in unplanned outages means that more generation capacity is available to meet the country’s electricity demand. Additionally, it provides Eskom with the necessary capacity to conduct more planned maintenance activities, which are crucial for further improving the reliability and stability of the generation fleet,” it said.
Kriel power unit 6 caught fire last night – evidently from a burst oil pipe. I doubt it will be repaired. Kriel was commissioned in 1979 – 6 x 500MW. @Eskom_SA talks about extending the life of these old power stations but eventually they take themselves offline. pic.twitter.com/V3tGtyOBYf
— Anton Eberhard (@AntonEberhard) November 4, 2024
The company also said on Friday that South Africa should have enough generation capacity for the next five years, provided the EAF maintains an average of at least 63%. This will support economic growth of up to 2.6%/year, Eskom’s system operator said. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
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