Eskom has suspended several employees after an explosion at Unit 4 at the Medupi power station caused what the utility has described as “extensive damage” to the facility.
“The incident occurred during the activity to displace hydrogen with carbon dioxide and air respectively, for the purposes of finding an external leak,” Eskom said in a statement on Monday evening.
Following a preliminary investigation, Eskom said it appeared that “while performing this activity, air was introduced into the generator at a point where hydrogen was still present at sufficient quantities to create an explosive mixture, which ignited and resulted in the explosion”.
Energy expert Chris Yelland posted pictures on Twitter showing the damage to Medupu Unit 4.
First pictures of the damage caused by the explosion at #Eskom #Medupi Unit 4 last night: pic.twitter.com/smEVoVMAAn
— Chris Yelland (@chrisyelland) August 9, 2021
“It also appears that there was a deviation from the procedure for carrying out this activity. As such, Eskom has undertaken to place those employees who were responsible to manage and execute this work under precautionary suspension…”
What a disaster for @Eskom_SA. It will take a couple of years and many billions to fix this. 797MW off the system at a time when there is very little reserve margin. https://t.co/kj4vxsY6or
— Anton Eberhard (@AntonEberhard) August 9, 2021
Eskom said earlier on Monday that Unit 4 at Medupi, which had been offline since Friday, had experienced an explosion that had also tripped Unit 5. The explosion occurred at 10.50pm on Sunday night.
“No injuries have been reported and all employees and contractors have been accounted for. Emergency services attended to seven colleagues requiring treatment for shock,” it said. — © 2021 NewsCentral Media
