Camden Power Station

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Camden power station is a 1,600-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Location

The map below shows the location of the plant, near Camden, Gert Sibande District, Mpumalanga.

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Background on Plant

Camden Power Station is a coal-fired station owned by the South African publicly-owned electricity utility Eskom. It has an installed capacity of 1,600 MW and comprises eight 200 MW units.

It was commissioned in 1967-1969. Between 1990 and 2006 the station was mothballed, but Eskom decided to recommission the station, starting with unit 6 in July 2005 and completing with unit 1 in July 2008.

Power distribution

In addition to feeding the South African grid, Camden, along with Arnot Power Station, also feeds the Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique via 400kV transmission lines. Mozal consumes around 950MW.

Proposed renewal

In April 2016 the Eskom Board said it approved the commencement of a pre-feasibility study for renewal options for four of our oldest power stations - Komati, Camden, Hendrina and Arnot. The pre-feasibility study would take 18 months to complete, and would include looking at options such as plant life extension.

However, in March 2017 Eskom said that it would hold meetings with the government and labour to discuss its plans to decommission five power stations over the next five years: Komati Power Station, Hendrina Power Station, Kriel Power Station, Grootvlei Power Station, and Camden Power Station. Eskom said the stations are old and unneeded, given the country's plans for new power capacity by independent power producers (IPPs).

Plant Details

• Sponsor: Eskom
• Parent company: Eskom
• Location: Camden, Gert Sibande District, Mpumalanga, South Africa
• Coordinates: -26.6214772, 30.0900738 (exact)
• Status: Operating (commissioned in 1967-1969, recommissioned in 2005-2008)
• Gross capacity: 1,600 MW (8 x 200 MW)
• Type: Subcritical
• Coal type:
• Coal source:
• Source of financing:

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