- Eskom has announced that Unit 2, at Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Limpopo, has attained commercial operation status today.
- This means that the unit moves from project status where it was tested over a period of time to being part of Eskom’s generation output contributing just under 800MW to the South African power grid.
Unit 2 joins its sister units, Units 6, 5, 4 and 3 which have been in commercial operation contributing a total of 4000MW to the national electricity grid respectively. This leaves one unit to be commercialised, Unit 1, which was synchronised in August 2019 and is currently feeding an average of 400MW to the grid.
in a press statement, Eskom mentions that it is proud of its team at Medupi who have delivered the fifth unit with extreme dedication. ‘They have worked hard for long hours together with execution partners to ensure that testing activities are done thoroughly and successfully’.
Eskom Interim Executive Chairman and Acting Group Chief Executive, Mr Jabu Mabuza, said, “The commercial operation of Unit 2 is a major milestone that signifies the near completion of the Medupi Build Project with a bright promise of power to grow the economy of South Africa. Medupi is the fourth largest dry-cooled power station in the world and building it has been challenging at times but we have forged ahead because we knew how important the project is for our country. We are therefore delighted that it is finally contributing the much-needed power to the South African grid and that it has brought development to the region and country at large.”
Commercial Operation status ensures technical compliance to statutory, safety and legal requirements. This signatory milestone marks the contractual handover of the unit from the principal contractors under build project unit to its Generation business.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
