Komati Power Station
{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-SouthAfricaCoal}} The Komati Power Station is a 1,000-megwatt (MW) coal-fired station owned by the South African publicly-owned electricity utility Eskom that was mothballed in 1990 but later recommissioned.
The plant's nine units are planned for retirement in 2021.[1]
Contents
Location
The undated satellite photo below shows the power station in South Africa
Background
The Komati power station was built between 1961-1964 with nine units; units 1-5 of 100 MW each and units 6-9 of 125 MW each, totaling 1000 MW capacity. In 1988, three units at Komati were mothballed, one was kept in reserve, and the other five were only operated during peak hours. In 1990 the complete station was mothballed until 2008, when unit 9 was the first to be recommissioned under Eskom's return to service project.[2]
A total of 700 MW (4 units at 125 MW and 2 units at 100 MW) were commissioned by 2013. The final 3 units were planned to be recommissioned and commercially operational by 2014.[3] The last unit went into operation by July 2014.[4]
The units were recommissioned in the following years:[5]
- Unit 9: December 2008
- Unit 8: March 2009
- Units 3 and 7: 2010
- Unit 4: 2011
- Unit 5: February 2012
- Units 6 and 2: 2013[3]
- Unit 1: 2014[3]
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.[6]
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).[7]
In 2017, two older coal-fired units from Eskom's Grootvlei Power Station, one older unit from Eskom's Hendrina Power Station, and two older units from Eskom's Komati Power Station were placed into coal reserve because their running costs are higher than other units. A government spokesman said that the old stations are expected to remain uneconomical to run, even if refurbished, compared to renewable energy IPP power options and the company's newer stations at Medupi and Kusile.[8]
Project Details
- Sponsor: Eskom
- Parent company:
- Location: Middleburg, South Africa
- Coordinates: -26.09078,29.47446 (exact)
- Status: Operating (two older units on cold reserve)
- Gross Capacity: 1,000 MW (Units 1-5: 100 MW, Units 6-9: 125 MW)
- Type: Subcritical
- In service: commissioned 1961-1964, recommissioned 2008-2014
- Coal Type: Bituminous
- Coal Source:
- Source of financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ "Eskom starts shutting down old coal power plants," Fin24, Mar 01 2019
- ↑ The Role of the State in the Energy Sector. Department of Minerals and Energy (South Africa). Retrieved on 13 January 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Eskom Generation and Transmission Expansion Plans," Presentation by Andrew Etzinger, Senior General Manager of Eskom, March 2013.
- ↑ "Eskom reports R7.1 billion net profit for 2014 financial year end," ESI Africa, July 14, 2014
- ↑ "Komati Power Station," Eskom, accessed Jan 2016
- ↑ "Eskom Board approves Fleet Renewal Strategy based on economic viability," Eskom, 2016/04/24
- ↑ "NUM goes to war over proposed Eskom power station closures," Mining Weekly, Mar 29, 2017
- ↑ Tebogo Tshwane, "Jobs Issue Plagues Green Energy," Mail&Guardian, 18 May 2018
Related SourceWatch articles
External resources
External articles
Wikipedia also has an article on Komati Power Station. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
