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Medupi power station project, South Africa

16th January 2015

  

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Name and Location
Medupi power station project, Limpopo, South Africa.

Client
Eskom.

Project Description
Medupi is located on an 883 ha site in Lephalale, Limpopo.  It will be a dry-cooled coal-fired, baseload power-generating plant, comprising six 800 MW units, with a 4 800 MW installed capacity. It will be the fourth-largest coal plant in the southern hemisphere and the biggest of its kind with dry cooling in the world.

The planned operational life of the station is 50 years.

The power station will use high-tech supercritical boilers, which will operate at higher temperatures and pressures than older boilers, thereby providing greater efficiency.

It is the first baseload coal-fired station to be built in South Africa in more than 20 years and its delivery on schedule is viewed as critical.

The project is unique because Medupi is being built backwards – traditionally Eskom has always started building Unit 1 and ended with Unit 6. This new approach is the result of the rock conglomeration on the southern side, which is excavated and reused as the engineering fill on the northern side.

The project will form part of the utility's integrated strategic electricity plan and is designed to be flue-gas desulphurisation ready.

Value
The cost of the project has increased from R91.2-billion to R105-billion.

Duration
Construction activities started in May 2007.  The first unit, Unit 6, will be synchronised to the grid in the second half of 2014.

Latest Developments
Eskom is not providing an official revised date for the first synchronisation of Medupi Unit 6, having missed the December 24 deadline. However, spokesperson Andrew Etzinger says the milestone should be reached before the end of February and that the 794 MW unit should be fully operational “by winter”.

The delay is the latest in several to afflict the project, which has faced numerous technical problems and labour disruptions. Originally, Eskom planned to synchronise Unit 6 in 2011, before shifting the date initially to the end of 2013, then to the second half of 2014 and recently to the first quarter of 2015.

The latest delay has been attributed mainly to technical factors pertaining to the so-called steam blow-through – a process designed to clean the boiler and steam system of debris accumulated during construction and to achieve the steam quality required by the turbine.

However, technical problems with the temporary pipework installed for the blow-through have resulted in the project team having been unable to meet international benchmarks outlined for steam quality or flow-through rates.

Rotek engineers and external turbine specialists were called in to assess the risks of proceeding to synchronisation in the absence of achieving these benchmarks. Their cost-benefit analysis concluded that, while it was not optimal from an engineering perspective, the business and financial benefits of proceeding towards synchronisation (and avoiding what would have been months of further delay) were found to outweigh the costs. These costs were expected to materialise in about 20 years in the form of an earlier-than-planned turbine refurbishment.

Etzinger says mitigation measures – comprising regular internal inspection, shortening maintenance intervals and incorporating filter protection to catch residual particles – are being introduced to limit the downside risks. Therefore, the pipework is being reinstated to facilitate the unit’s synchronisation in the coming weeks.

Following first power, it will take several months for a unit to ramp up to full and stable power.

Meanwhile, Eskom is still finalising the revised budget for the coal-fired power station in light of the actions that have been taken to improve construction processes.

The budget has already been increased from R91.2-billion to R105-billion (excluding interest during construction) and a revised cost-to-completion figure will be released once the new board has signed off on it.

The commissioning intervals for the 11 other units at Medupi and Kusile are also yet to be finalised. The current estimate is for a year interval between the synchronisation of Medupi Unit 6 and Unit 5, with Kusile Unit 1 being brought on simultaneously with Medupi Unit 5.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Main packages:
Parsons Brinckerhoff (execution partner); Roshcon (enabling civils); Rula Bulk Materials Handling (coal overland conveyor and ash dump conveyor); Hitachi Power Africa, or HPA (boiler); Alstom S&E Africa (turbine); LP Services consortium (engineering, procurement and construction contract for the low-pressure services); Ovivo Aqua SA (water treatment plant); Karrena-Concor joint venture, or JV (chimneys and silos); MPS JV (main civils); Actom (electrical power installation); General Electric (low-voltage switchgear system); Actom (medium-voltage switchgear); Siemens (auxiliary transformers and generator transformers); Standby Systems (UPS); Alstom C&I (control and instrumentation); Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions South Africa (condition-based maintenance systems); T-Systems (information technology (IT) and IT infrastructure); Siemens ACI Open Consortium (laboratory and analysers); Civcon/G4 JV (miscellaneous infrastructure and reservoirs); Basil Read (buildings Phase 2, ash dump infrastructure and clarifiers); NCI (diesel generators); ThyssenKrupp Materials Handling (coal stockyard equipment); Clyde Bergemann Africa (dust handling and conditioning systems); ELB Engineering Services (terrace coal and ash); Aveng Grinaker-LTA (buildings phases 1 and 3) and Tubular (supply and erection of conveyors).

Other:
Energy Engineered Products (supply of high-performance alloy, stainless steel valves, pipes, fittings and flanges) and Turnmill Proquip Engineering (fabrication of substation steelwork and construction of the exhaust-steam ducting).

On Budget and on Time?
It is well behind schedule and over budget, owing to a combination of labour strife, problems with boiler welds and the control and instrumentation system.

Contact Details for Project Information
Eskom project manager Roman Crookes, email roman.crookes@eskom.co.za.
Eskom media desk, email mediadesk@eskom.co.za.

Main packages:
Parsons Brinckerhoff, tel +27 11 787 4141, fax +27 11 886 0359 or email project@pbworld.com.
Roshcon, tel +27 11 629 8000 or fax +27 11 626 3460.
Rula Bulk Materials Handling, tel +27 11 795 1040, fax +27 11 795 1004 or email info@rula.co.za.
Ovivo Aqua SA, tel +27 11 886 0266.
Actom, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.
GE corporate investor communications, tel +1 203 373 2460.
Siemens, tel +27 11 652 2000 or fax +27 11 652 2711.
Standby Systems, tel +27 861 782 632, fax +27 11 794 3598 or email standbypower@mweb.co.za.
Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions South Africa, tel +27 11 695 8000 or fax +27 11 805 1554.
Civcon/G4 JV, tel  +27 11 206 9660, fax +27 11 316 6604 or email info@civcon.co.za; tel +27 11 396 1793, fax +27 11 396 2344 or email info@g4.co.za.
Basil Read, tel +27 11 418 6300 or fax +27 11 418 6333.
NCI, tel +27 21 553 8840, fax +27 21 553 8841 or email info@nci-sa.co.za.
ThyssenKrupp Materials Handling, tel +27 11 236 1000, fax +27 11 236 1235 or email info.tkmh@thyssenkrupp.com.
Clyde Bergemann Africa, tel +2 7 11 704 0580, fax +27 11 704 0597 or email enquiry@cbz.co.za.
ELB Engineering Services, tel +27 11 772 1400, fax +27 11 325 6680 or email sales@elb.co.za.
Aveng Grinaker-LTA, tel +27 11 578 6000 or fax +27 11 578 6161.

Other contractors:
a.b.e. Construction Chemicals, tel +27 11 306 9000.
Afrimat investor and corporate relations, tel +27 11 325 5944 or fax +27 11 325 5942.
BKS Group, tel +27 12 421 3500, fax +27 12 421 3501 or email group@bks.co.za.
DSE Structural Engineers & Contractors, tel +27 11 871 4111, fax +27 11 871 4141 or email dse@grinaker-lta.co.za.
Exxaro Resources, tel +27 12 307 4189.
GEA Aircooled Systems, tel +27 11 861 1521.
Genrec Engineering, tel +27 11 876 2300, fax +27 11 827 1733 or email sales@genreceng.co.za.
Hansen Transmissions, tel +27 11 571 9611.
HPA, tel +27 11 260 4300, fax +27 11 656 3609 or email info@hitachi-power.co.za; or media liaison Pamella Radebe, tel +27 11 260 4300 or email p_radebe@hitachi-power.co.za.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Europe, tel +49 203 80 38 0 or fax +49 203 80 38 1809.
Kwikspace, tel +27 11 903 8993 or email barney@kwikspace.co.za.
IWC, tel +27 11 466 0699, fax +27 11 466 8180 or email mail@iwc.co.za.
Lesedi Nuclear Services, tel +27 21 525 1300 or fax +27 21 525 1333.
Mikropul, tel +27 478 0456, fax +27 478 0371 or email sales@mikropul.co.za.
Murray & Roberts, tel +27 11 723 2080.
Royal HaskoningDHV, tel +27 11 798 6000, fax +27 11 798 6005 or email corporate@rhdhv.com.
Sarens, tel +27 11 861 3800, fax +27 11 861 3899 or email info@sarenssa.co.za.
SSD, tel +27 11 828 0439 or fax +27 11 828 2810.
Steloy Castings, tel +27 13 933 3331, fax +27 13 933 3653 or email info@steloy.com.
Sulzer Pumps South Africa, tel +27 11 820 6252 or fax +27 11 820 6205.
TKMH, tel +27 11 236 1000 or fax +27 11 236 1235.
Tubular, tel +27 11 553 2000, fax +27 11 450 2160 or email th@tubular.co.za.
Voith Turbo, tel +27 11 418 4076 or fax +27 11 418 4059.
Wetback Contracts, tel +27 11 392 8000, fax +27 11 392 5856 or email info@wetback.co.za.
Lighting Structures, tel +27 87 310 1000 or fax +27 86 699 6999.
Konecranes, tel +27 11 864 2800.
Wade Walker, tel +27 11 466 0377.
Energy Engineered Products, tel  +27 11 466 1926 or fax +27 11 466 1692.
Turnmill Proquip Engineering, tel +27 16 986 0030 or fax +27 16 986 0127.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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