The chance of a return to load shedding this winter has been reduced after Eskom announced it successfully reintegrated Medupi’s unit 4 into the national grid late on Sunday evening.
The state-owned power utility said in a statement that unit 4 will add 800MW to the grid within a few weeks and is part of its “strategic objective to deliver 2.5GW of generation capacity” and put to load shedding behind it once and for all.
“This milestone strengthens South Africa’s energy security and enhances the stability of electricity supply. The unit’s return follows extensive repairs, completed eight months ahead of the original schedule, made possible by the innovative use of a refurbished ‘generator stator’, an alternative to waiting for a brand-new component,” Eskom said.
The unit had been out of service since 8 August 2021 after sustaining significant damage in an explosion.
“To avoid the costly delays associated with the lengthy delivery time of a new generator stator, Eskom sourced a used stator from the Netherlands as an interim solution, enabling the early return to service of Medupi unit 4.
“With the return of unit 4, all six units at Medupi are now operational and will contribute a combined capacity of 4.8GW to the national grid once the unit reaches full output in the coming weeks,” it said.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said: “This achievement moves us closer to consistently overcoming load shedding, which is now largely behind us…”
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The 400t generator stator was transported a thousand kilometres by road from Richards Bay to Medupi near Lephalale in Limpopo by Eskom Rotek Industries. The power station is one of the largest dry-cooled, coal-fired power plants in the world. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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