South Africa’s power grid has received a welcome 800MW boost. According to Eskom, Unit 6 of the Kusile Power Station was connected to the national grid at the weekend. It was the final unit at Kusile to be connected to the grid.
Furthermore, Nxumalo said, “Eskom is at a critical point returning megawatts to the grid as we are currently in a constrained state.”
Eskom adds 800MW of new capacity to the grid for the first time with the addition of Kusile Power Station’s final unit to the national grid
Eskom Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo says this achievement marks a crucial step toward completing one of South Africa’s largest infrastructure projects. He says this is a key milestone in Eskom’s strategic objective of adding 2 500MW of new capacity to the grid by March 2025.
“Kusile is the first power station in South Africa and Africa to implement Wet Flue Gas Desulphurisation (WFGD) technology, ensuring compliance with air quality standards and aligning with global best practices to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions,” Nxumalo said.
The national grid
According to a statement, Unit 6 at Kusile will over the next six months undergo extensive testing and optimisation before reaching commercial operation, when its 800MW capacity will be officially added to the Eskom generation fleet.
“This milestone is a testament to the unwavering dedication and resilience of Eskom’s employees and contractors,” added Nxumalo.
Nxumalo added that the Kusile Power Station will contribute a total of 4 800MW to the national grid once all units are fully operational. This will make it the country’s largest infrastructure project. At the same time, Kusile’s sister project, Medupi, will see its Unit 4 return 800MW by the end of April this year, from an extended outage following a generator stator failure and the completion of the project. He says both South Africa’s new build power station projects will then be essentially completed once Kusile Unit 6 is in commercial operation.
Kusile’s sister project, Medupi
Meanwhile, Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane says Kusile Unit 6’s addition is proof that they are making continued progress in stabilising and strengthening the electricity supply in the country. He says, that meeting the targets set in the Generation Recovery Plan and their strategic roadmap underscores their determination to deliver new capacity, enhance generation performance, support economic growth and ultimately deliver a more sustainable energy future.
Marokane added, “We reiterate our commitment to ensuring that South Africa is in no way returning to the levels of loadshedding that we experienced in 2023.”
As per the statement, the electricity supplier says it will now focus on ensuring that Unit 6 achieves commercial operation in the second half of 2025. This will further strengthen energy security.
“Our focus remains on delivering a more reliable, resilient, and sustainable power system for the country,” concluded Marokane.
