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Preliminary work for new builds conducted

NEW BUILD PREPARATION
Eskom is awaiting government direction regarding the proposed new nuclear and coal–fired power station builds

NEW BUILD PREPARATION Eskom is awaiting government direction regarding the proposed new nuclear and coal–fired power station builds

Photo by Duane Daws

27th June 2014

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

  

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W hile work is progressing at State-owned power utility Eskom’s new build projects, Eskom group capital acting group executive Dan Marokane says the utility has conducted preliminary work for potential additional new build projects.

These projects include a third coal-fired power station, curren- tly referred to as Coal 3; a new nuclear build; and the conversion of the power utility’s open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), Ankerlig and Gourika, in the Western Cape, which are currently fuelled by diesel, into combined-cycle gas turbines fuelled by natural gas.

While Eskom is likely to play some part in the construction of the proposed Coal 3 power station, Marokane says the exact details are yet to be finalised.

“While the Department of Energy (DoE) did indicate late in March that they would, in due course, announce the next steps in the proposed development of a baseload power station, Eskom is waiting for specifics regarding the proposed construction,” Marokane notes.

A media report in August last year also quoted Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies as saying that Cabinet had “approved the building of a third coal-fired power station by Eskom, although no timeline, schedules or costs have yet been approved”.

He said construction of the third coal-fired power station was likely to start once Eskom’s two current coal-fired projects, Medupi and Kusile, had been completed.

However, Marokane confirms that the utility has completed preliminary work “that could be of value to any producer who eventually executes the project”.

The execution of the work, which includes site selections and design engineering, was based on the lessons learnt and calculations arising from the Medupi and Kusile power plant projects, in Limpopo and Mpumalanga respectively, Marokane notes.

“While some of the work has been completed, Eskom is keenly awaiting finalisation of the next steps and direction regarding Coal 3 from the DoE,” he adds.

Further, Marokane points out that Eskom, the operator of a nuclear power station, has the capacity and knowledge regarding the nuclear operation and is awaiting government’s direction on its specific role in a possible new nuclear build programme.

The nuclear procurement is outlined in the Integrated Resources Plan 2010, which was adop-ted by Cabinet in 2011. In April, Engineering News reported that former Energy Minister Dikobe Ben Martins, in his keynote address to the 2014 Nuclear Africa conference in March, referred to President Jacob Zuma’s statement in his February State of the Nation Address, saying that “President Zuma announced that government will include the procurement of 9 600 MW of nuclear energy as part of the energy mix”.

Martins further noted that the DoE, including sister departments, such as the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Public Enterprises, the National Treasury, the National Nuclear Regulator, the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, and other stakeholders are working together to finalise the procurement framework of the nuclear programme.

“Meanwhile, Eskom has undertaken critical works pertaining to the necessary early site selection of locations for a nuclear power station, permit processes and the necessary environmental impact assessments, so that when some of the decisions are made, the utility does not have to start from the beginning with these time-consuming exercises,” Marokane says.

In addition, engineering work for the preparation of the conversion of Eskom’s OCGTs from diesel to gas is ongoing, with the regulatory and in-house governance procedures and processes running in parallel with the engineering work, he notes.

“Given the higher use of the OCGTs than was initially inten- ded, Eskom is considering how to swiftly convert the OCGTs to enable them to operate on a different fuel, which will enable Eskom to run them more cost effectively and for extended periods,” Marokane says.


He points out that the performance of the existing coal fleet needs to be addressed, as this will provide a greater availability of power to ensure reduced dependence on the OCGTs.

Eskom has also acknowledged that it has run its coal-fired power station units at a higher cap- acity, owing to an extended period of maintenance postponements to meet the tight electricity demand reserve and delayed decisions in investment infrastructure.

“Nevertheless, Eskom has now cautiously taken a decision to execute maintenance to preserve the remaining life of its assets while ensuring that the assets perform most favourably,” Marokane adds.

Further, he notes that an assessment of all the options regarding the life extensions of some of the stations that will reach their end of life in the next ten years is under way.

“Three power stations are due to be decommissioned within the next ten years but Eskom is investigating the possibilities of extending the life of these plants,” Marokane says.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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