Local power cable manufacturer Aberdare Cables, a Powertech company within the JSE-listed Altron Group, is supplying cables to State-owned power utility Eskom for use on several of the utility’s new build projects, including the 4 800 MW Kusile coal-fired power station, in Mpumalanga.

The company is supplying the cables through engineering, procurement and construction contractors, as well as other contractors, such as Eskom subsidiary Rotek Industries.

Kusile will be the first power station in South Africa to use flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) and is expected to deliver first power by December this year, with final completion of the power station scheduled for the end of 2018.

Eskom states that FGD technology removes oxides of sulphur, such as sulphur dioxide, from exhaust flue gases in power plants that burn coal.

Aberdare Cables CEO Keith Edmond tells Engineering News that the company is an approved supplier to Eskom and holds supply contracts for a range of products, such as bare overhead conductors, aerial bundle cables (ABCs), Airdac house-service connection cables, medium-voltage cross-linked polyethylene- and paper-insulated lead-sheathed cables, as well as for a range of low-voltage cables.

He says these cables are used in projects in all three of the Eskom business units of transmission, distribution and generation in substation projects, maintenance work and the electrification of residential areas.

“. . . our cables are applied across the spectrum of the power utility’s business activities,” states Edmond, who highlights that the company has been supplying products to Eskom since 1954.
Further, he explains that the cables Aberdare Cables supplied to Eskom are covered by the compulsory SABS VC 8075 and VC 8077 safety standards for low- and medium-voltage electric cables, which are manufactured to Eskom specifications for these cable types.

Powering Progress

Edmond tells Engineering News that, in line with supporting government’s programme of access to electricity for all, Aberdare Cables recently introduced the Electrodac cables range, which comprises Armadac, Airdac SNE, Airdac CNE and ABC cables, aimed specifically at facilitating rural electrification projects and low-cost electrification by lowering the cost of electricity delivery.

He points out that, in accordance with electronics and electrical engineering group Siemens specifications, Aberdare Cables produced unarmoured multi-core cables with stringent fire-resistant characteristics, designed to reduce the propagation of fire through cables, in 2007.

“The unarmoured multi-core cables are in use at Eskom’s open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) in Ankerlig, in Mossel Bay, and Gourikwa, in Atlantis, both in the Western Cape,” adds Edmond.

Both OCGTs form part of Eskom’s Peaking Generation division and when required are activated during peak demand periods and emergency situations.

“These peaks are normally from 06:00 to 08:00 and 17:00 to 20:00. Provision has been made for the OCGTs to run up to eight hours a day,” says Eskom.

The Ankerlig OCGTs each function with its own control room and the nine units have a combined nominal capacity of 1 338 MW, while the Gourikwa OCGTs are operated from one combined control room and its five units have
a total nominal capacity of 746 MW.

Research and Development

Edmond states that Aberdare Cables offers a range of high-quality electrical cables.

“Our market offering, however, extends substantially beyond the physical products we manufacture and sell. We continuously interact with customers to ensure that they are provided with the means to transport the essential electrical ‘life-blood’ in a manner that suits their individual needs.”

Edmond notes that the company’s engineering specialists work with Eskom to create specific design adaptations that meet the utility’s requirements.

“We have engaged in extensive research work with Eskom’s technical teams on corona testing of overhead conductors, such as aluminium-conductor steel-reinforced cables, by undertaking simulation tests on these cables. As a result, we are. . . changing the design of overhead conductors,” he highlights.

Edmond says Aberdare Cables is also engaging with electrical engineering master’s degree students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on the effect of conduct design to reduce alternating current resistance of overhead conductors.

“Aberdare Cables is recognised internationally as a pioneer in cable advancements. We serve on the South African Bureau of Standards and International Electro Technical Commissions, as well as on cable-working groups. Aberdare Cables also actively participates in the Council on Large Electric Systems, which is the global organisation for high-voltage electricity generation, transmission and distribution,” he concludes.