State-owned electricity
producer Eskom has
offered a sobering update on the difficulties it is having at its Medupi and
Kusile coal projects, which are not
only years behind schedule and significantly over budget, but are now also
beset with technical defects that are resulting in a serious underperformance
of the four units that have entered into commercial operation.
Officially Medupi is expected to cost R145-billion
to build and Kusile R161-billion.
The projects are
two-and-a-half times more expensive than what was initially budgeted and are
well behind schedule, with the last Medupi unit expected in late 2019 or early
2020 and the last Kusile unit by mid-2022.
During the Nersa public hearing in Soweto on Friday, technology GM Dr Titus Mathe reported
that the three Medupi units and the one Kusile unit currently in commercial
operation had, for the financial year to
date, experienced a total of 84 unit trips.
He also revealed that the average energy
availability factor(EAF) for the Medupi units was below 70% between
April and December last year, with Unit 6, which was the first unit to enter
into commercial operation in 2015, having been shut for repairs for three
months from the start of September to the end of November.
The immediate target is to return to an EAF of 70%,
which is well below the 92% ‘use requirement specification’ target set for the
units.
While Eskom initially
described the poor performance of the units as “teething problems”, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan indicated
that they could be more fundamental, particularly in relation to the
performance of the boilers, the grinding mills and the fabric filters.
A forensic investigation was instituted in 2018 and
Mathe confirmed that major design and
technical problems had been discovered, most of which related to the boilers.
He said Eskom expected to have technical solutions for all the defects within the coming six months. It would then negotiate with contractors about liability for the defects and on how the repairs will be implemented. The timetable for the remaining Medupi and Kusile units had been slightly extended. The final completion date for the last Medupi unit had been shifted to November 30, 2019, from May 31, 2019, while Unit 6 at Kusile was still expected to be finalised by June 30, 2022.
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