Kusile Power Station
Kusile seen from the N4 freeway in 2019
CountrySouth Africa
LocationWitbank, Emalahleni Local Municipality
Coordinates25°54′59″S 28°55′02″E / 25.91639°S 28.91722°E / -25.91639; 28.91722
StatusUnder construction
Construction began2008
Construction cost$ 8.700.000.000
Owner(s)Eskom
Operator(s)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Power generation
Units operational1 × 800 MW
Nameplate capacity4,800 MW
Capacity factor16,6%
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

Kusile Power Station (previously known as Project Bravo) in South Africa is a coal-fired power plant by state electricity utility Eskom in Mpumalanga. The station consists of 6 generating units with an eventual nameplate capacity of 800 MW each bringing the total installed capacity of 4,800 MW

Location

Located about 15 kilometres north of the existing Kendal Power Station near Witbank, Mpumalanga.

Concept

Kusile Power Station is designed to consist of six 800 megawatt coal-fired generating units for a total generating capacity of 4,800 megawatts.[1] In 2023 the realistic sustainable output per unit was however projected to be some 350 megawatt.[2] The station would be the first in Eskom's fleet with flue gas desulphurization technology.

Project engineer

Black and Veatch was appointed as the project engineer for construction.

Main equipment suppliers

Alstom provided the steam turbines, whilst Hitachi would provide the super critical boilers.

Coal supply

The power utility, Eskom stated that it "will obtain most of the coal required for this Power Station from Anglo Coal's New Largo operations, south east of the Kusile Power Station."[3]

Eskom's consultants estimate that 35 new coal mines will be required to support the Medupi and Kusile plants.[4]

Construction timeline

Construction started in August 2008, months after the first of South Africa's rolling blackouts in January 2008.[5]

Initially expected to take 6 years to complete, the project completed Unit 1 until 2017 (approximately 8 years after initial works began) and the entire project not until 2021.[6]

  • 5 June 2007: Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism issued a positive Record of Decision.[7]
  • February 2008: Hitachi Power Africa awarded the boiler contract worth R18.5 billion.[8]
  • February 2008: Alstom S&E awarded the turbine island works contract valued at R13 billion.[8]
  • 14 April 2011: Black & Veatch Corp. Awarded approval for $805.6 million in financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.[9][10]
  • 31 May 2011: Export-Import Bank of the United States approves $805 million (R5.78 billion) loan.
  • October 2014: 300 ton 910 MVA Generator Step-up Transformer placed on its foundation, assembled with all its Auxiliary systems and filled with 128,000 litres of Mineral Oil. All electrical integrity tests were performed successfully to confirm that the transformer was ready to receive power.
  • 10 March 2017: Unit 1 achieves commercial power.[11]
  • 7 July 2017: Unit 2 was synchronised to the national grid.
  • 16 March 2019: Unit 3 was synchronised to the national grid.[12]
  • 30 October 2020: Unit 2 reaches commercial operation.[13]
  • 31 March 2021: Unit 3 reaches commercial operation.[14]
  • 23 December 2021: Unit 4 connected to the national grid.[15][16]
  • 31 May 2022: Unit 4 reaches commercial operation.[17]

Delays and defects

Deficient project management, corruption, labour disputes, vandalism and absenteeism resulted in low operational efficiency and reliability which periodically stalled the generation of electricity 15 years after its construction began.[2]

The dates for full commercial operation were shifted numerous times mostly due to:

  • Labour disputes:
    • May 2011: Eleven contractor vehicles, seven offices, two large mobile cranes, and the west wing of the KCW office block were set alight, vehicles stoned, and offices and stores looted.[18]
    • February 2014: 1,400 employees were reported absent.[19]
    • 10 August 2018: A fire breaks out at the station amidst tensions with unions over pay increases causing damage.[20]
  • Technical issues such as:
    • Boiler design: high temperatures that the spray water-cooling system could not cope with[21]
    • Fabric filter plant: excessive wear of bags, resulting in blockages[21]
    • Coal mills: failed to meet operational requirements, which necessitated a doubling of servicing[21]
    • Flue ducts and resultant damage to chimney: A wet flue gas desulphurisation system between the boiler and chimney, intended to remove harmful sulphur dioxide from emissions at its first desulphurisation stage, where non functioning baghouse filters supposed to capture fly ash from emitted gases failed. This resulted in some of the silica containing fly ash being carried along to the desulphurisation unit. At that stage, hydrated lime sprayed through the emitted gasses to chemically bind with the sulphur dioxide and create calcium sulfite was also mixed with the fly ash and subsequently entered the chimney. When combined with heat and fly ash, a hard crust formed along the inner exhausts of the chimney which over time added too much weight for the structure to support, resulting in damage. The damage to the flue duct and chimney then rendered Units 1, 2 & 3 inoperable.[22][23][24]

This resulted in Kusile and Medupi considered as some of the worst-performing units in Eskom's fleet.[21] In February 2019, Eskom GM for group technology Titus Mathe reported R8 billion would be needed to fix design defects at Medupi and Kusile.[25]

Critics

The building of this power station attracted various criticism.

Interference

Hitachi Power Africa, a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., found by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to have made US$6 million in corrupt payments to Chancellor House, a front company for the African National Congress, the ruling political party in South Africa.[26] Hitachi agreed to pay US$19 million to settle charges.[26] Hitachi Power Africa rebranded as Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa in February 2014.[27]

Cost

Kusile Power Station is estimated to cost R118 billion to complete.[6] This will bring the cost per unit to R19.66bn ($1.34bn) per generating unit, equalling R26.96M ($1.67M) per installed MW.

Financial institution support

The following institutions were involved in supporting the project:[28]

Emissions

The plant is expected to emit est 36.8 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year once completed.[29]

In November 2011, Greenpeace activists chained themselves to a gate and climbed a crane, a few weeks before the country hosted a global conference on climate change. Authorities arrested nine people, on charges of trespassing and malicious damage to property.[30]

The design of the station does allow for the installation of flue gas desulphurization technology, the first of its kind in South Africa.

Inquiry

By 2018, the governments Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a forensic probe into delays and cost overruns on the completion of Kusile and Medupi Control Stations.[31]

Corruption controversy

In November 2019 South African investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh published an article in the Daily Maverick detailing an alleged slush fund corruption scandal involving Eskom executives and at least four contractors.[32] The scandal involved contracts worth a combined R10 billion resulting in an estimated R75 million being lost due to irregular activities.[32] By the time of the publication of Myburgh's article the construction of Kusile was five years past its original completion date and an estimated R80 billion (equivalent to US$5.4 billion) over budget.[32]

In Dec 2022, ABB was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in a bribery scheme, where it paid more than $37 million in bribes to a high-ranking Eskom official to influence a $160 million contract awarded by the state-owned electric utility company for work on Kusile's cabling and installation work between 2014 and 2017.[33]

See also

Media related to Kusile Power Station at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. ↑ Terence Creamer, "Eskom begins standing its ground, but regaining credibility will be tough", Engineering News, June 6, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "No power from Kusile after R233 billion and 15 years of construction". Energy. dailyinvestor.com. Daily Investor. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  3. ↑ Eskom Holdings Ltd, "Second Key Stakeholder Meeting between Eskom and Topigs SA", August 19, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Move Beyond Coal, Now!: Voices from the Front Lines of the Global Struggle" Archived 2013-05-23 at the Wayback Machine Sierra Club report, Sep. 2011.
  5. ↑ "Thabo Mbeki's explosive allegations about Eskom and load-shedding". Energy. dailyinvestor.com. Daily Investor. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Worker killed at Kusile Power Station". SABC. 2015-09-15.
  7. ↑ Eskom, New Build News Archived 2013-06-16 at archive.today, November 2007.
  8. 1 2 "Eskom Announces Major Contracts for Bravo Project" Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine, Media Release, February 29, 2008.
  9. ↑ "South African Coal Plant Wins U.S. Backing Over Environmentalist Protests" Mark Drajem, Bloomberg, April 14, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Ex-Im Bank Gives Preliminary Approval For $800M Loan To South Africa Power Plant" Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Kusile unit 1 goes on full load". www.eskom.co.za. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  12. ↑ "New Kusile unit produces power eight months ahead of schedule". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  13. ↑ greenbuildingafrica.co.za
  14. ↑ "Kusile Unit 3 achieves commercial operation, bringing half the project to completion". Eskom. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  15. ↑ "Kusile Unit 4 synchronised to the national grid for the first time, helping to ease the capacity constraints". Eskom. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "Finally: Kusile Unit 4 connected to grid for first time, helping to ease power crunch". Fin24. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  17. ↑ Writer. "Fourth Kusile unit enters commercial operation". Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  18. ↑ "Kusile strikers caused R100m in damage - Minister - DOCUMENTS | Politicsweb".
  19. ↑ "News".
  20. ↑ "Eskom investigating cause of fire at Kusile power station". www.timeslive.co.za. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Donnelly, Lynley (15 February 2019). "Medupi and Kusile: Costly and faulty". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  22. ↑ "Eskom needs big money to fix Kusile's chimney to cut load-shedding". The M&G Online. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  23. ↑ https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/467737-why-kusile-power-stations-chimney-broke.html#:~:text=However%2C%20due%20to%20bad%20management,to%20support%2C%20and%20it%20collapses.
  24. ↑ "Kusile Power Station Project, South Africa". Power Technology. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  25. ↑ "Kusile and Medupi were destined to fail from the start". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  26. 1 2 "DA Laying Charges Over Hitachi Payment to ANC 'Front' for Medupi, Kusile Contracts". Times Live. 2015-09-29.
  27. ↑ "Eskom and the multi-billion rand mega projects that could have saved SA". Fin24. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  28. ↑ "Kusile Coal Power Plant in South Africa". BankTrack. 28 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-11-06. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  29. ↑ Andreas Spath, "US To Finance Dirty Coal Power In South Africa" Care 2 Care, May 30, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Greenpeace protests South African coal-fired power station; police arrest 9" Washington Post, November 6, 2011.
  31. ↑ Khumalo, Sibongile (2018-12-06). "Eskom opens forensic probe into Medupi, Kusile". Fin24. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  32. 1 2 3 Myburgh, Pieter-Louis (26 November 2019). "SCORPIO: Top Eskom contractors in fresh R75m Kusile slush fund scandal". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  33. ↑ "SEC.gov | ABB Settles SEC Charges That It Engaged in Bribery Scheme in South Africa". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
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