CAPE TOWN – Eskom said that its Medupi power station was an investment that would serve generations and power the economy for at least the next half-century.

This comes after the parastatals announcement that the project has finally been completed, 14 years after construction started.

Eskom said over the weekend that Unit 1, the last of six generation units of the Medupi power station project in Lephalale, attained commercial operation status and was handed over to the Generation division.

Eskom’s Sikonathi Mantshantsha said that there were some modifications to the boiler design defects that needed to be completed during the next 24 months, after which the Medupi power plant would reliably deliver power to the national grid at full capacity, helping increase energy security for the country.

“It has been quite a long story to complete this project. It’s been 14 years in the making but here we are now,” Mantshantsha said.

Energy experts, however, said that it was unclear whether the completion of the Medupi power station would help reduce power cuts.

Expert Roger Lily said that while this new plant was up and running, many of the older ones were still very troublesome.

His counterpart, Chris Yelland, said that Unit 1 had been generating into the grid for the past year, so the general impact on the grid from one day to the next was not very significant.

Source: Eyewitness News
Link: https://ewn.co.za/2021/08/03/medupi-power-plant-an-investment-that-will-power-economy-for-next-50-years-eskom