Eskom Connects Kusile Unit 4 to the Grid

Eskom has connected Unit 4 of the Kusile Power Station project to the national grid. According to the power utility, the four generating units of the power station are now connected to the grid, providing an additional 800MW to the country’s power system when the system is fully optimised. The power plant, located near eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, Kusile is South Africa’s largest construction project and will be the world’s fourth-largest coal plant. The unit will intermittently supply electricity during the testing and optimisation phase and then be handed to the Generation division to become part of the commercial fleet officially. After the synchronisation last week, Eskom noted that the unit had performed well, intermittently generating up to 330MW.

According to Eskom, the construction and commissioning activities for the remaining Kusile Units 5 and 6 is currently according to plan. When completed, the power station will have six units generating a maximum of 4,800MW. To ensure compliance with air quality standards and make it more environmentally friendly, Eskom is fitting wet flue gas desulphurisation (WFGD) to the Kusile plant as an atmospheric emission abatement technology. The WFGD is used to remove sulphur oxides (SOx) from coal or oil power plants. Kusile is the first power station on the continent to utilise the WFGD technology.