The giant overspending on the form-unsuitable Medupi and Kusile energy stations – one of whose devices blew up the moment it became done – practically boggles the tips. We’re in the pointless of evening as to why these form flaws came about in the first characteristic, however it is probably you’ll perchance produce particular if the outcry will get loud ample, the chief will appoint a charge of enquiry that will label tens of millions and attain no timeous nor precious conclusion. It no doubt won’t be done any sooner than the reconstruction and repairs on the 2 fated stations … in varied words, over eight years later than scheduled (now 2024). It could in point of fact well well be but but some other parody of appeasement by the ANC, now desperately attempting to encourage onto a semblance of credibility and energy in the 2024 elections. Memoir courtesy of MyBroadband. – Chris Bateman
Medupi and Kusile — eight years lifeless and R300 billion over budget.
Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile energy characteristic initiatives have been fraught with challenges starting from corruption and negligence to a unsuitable form direction of.
This has resulted in ongoing delays and both initiatives exceeding their budgets by a combined R300 billion.
Medupi and Kusile had been started in 2007, and the conception became for the energy stations to be done in 2014. Nonetheless, neither met their gash-off date.
Eskom is now aiming to complete the 2 energy stations in 2024.
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) also currently visited the Medupi and Kusile to notice their progress and whether Eskom performed the committee’s solutions.
Scopa found that Kusile’s completion date had been pushed abet but some other one year — to 2024 — and that Eskom had met only nine of the 23 solutions it had made for the length of its previous discuss to in 2019.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter provided detailed feedback on the challenges the energy utility became experiencing at the 2 stations and what became being finished to address them.
In August 2021, Eskom printed that it had completed the Medupi energy characteristic, having spent R122bn at the time, and the energy utility stated it didn’t build a question to to utilize extra than R135bn to complete it.
Nonetheless, in 2019, energy expert Chris Yelland explained that the overall completion label for the Medupi would be about R234bn when weighing flue gas desulphurisation and capitalised pastime for the length of construction in his calculations.
Medupi’s unit 4 exploded quickly after Eskom launched it became completed. De Ruyter estimated the label of repairs at R2.5bn. Eskom has since printed it expects repairs to lift over two years, with the unit returning to service by 31 August 2024.
Kusile is the first South African energy characteristic to embody wet flue gas desulphurisation technology, and Yelland estimated its label-to-completion would be R226bn.
The preliminary budgets for the energy stations had been R80bn every, that methodology Medupi and Kusile will will most certainly be found in at R154bn and R146bn over budget, respectively, in retaining with Yelland’s estimates.
Flawed designs
Feeble Eskom chief engineer for energy characteristic form and later director of technology, Alex Ham, identified defects with the energy stations’ form, mainly regarding the boilers and mills of the era devices.
To rectify the defects at Kusile and Medupi, Eskom and Mitsubishi Hitachi Vitality Programs Africa (MHPSA) started principal reworks on the 12 devices of Medupi and Kusile. The reworks require every unit to be shut down for round 75 days in sequence to complete the work. Eskom and MHPSA are sharing the associated prices.
The planned modifications required on every of the 12 devices at Medupi and Kusile embody:
- Eleven modifications to every mill for every unit.
- Redirecting of the flue gas inlet to the accept filter, and equipment adjustments to the pulsing systems for the heartbeat jet cloth filter.
- Addition of interior erosion security and modification to the pin rack driving the rotation of the gas-air heaters.
- Enforcing erosion security in the quite a couple of hot air ducts.
Medupi had further form issues specific to its process of coal transport. The ability characteristic became at the inspiration designed to transport coal from the Grootegeluk mine to stockpiles after which feed it into the particular boilers the utilization of conveyor belts.
Nonetheless, the conveyor suffered ruin, and Eskom determined to circumvent the coal stockpiles and feed it at this time from the Grootegeluk mine into boilers. This resulted in provide constraints.
The belt feeding at this time from the mine to the boilers then failed, constructing a principal logistical allege for Eskom, which now needed to transport coal to the energy characteristic in trucks. This supposed the energy characteristic could perchance additionally lumber only at a third of its energy output owing to congestion triggered by coal trucks.
Read also:
- Extra corruption at Eskom, Kusile – Contractors forked out school prices for supervisor’s daughter
- Falling short: Medupi and Kusile an Eskom conception designed to fail – Chris Yelland
- Eskom form-mature pinpoints Medupi, Kusile faults
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