Name and Location
Return-to-service (RTS) projects, South Africa.

Client
Eskom.

Project Description
The projects involve the demothballing of three Eskom coal-fired stations – Camden, Grootvlei and Komati – for a combined nominal capacity of 3 800 MW.

The Camden power station, in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, was the first station to be returned to service. The station will add 1 520 MW to the Eskom grid and features eight 200 MW units, with a combined capacity of 1 600 MW.

The Grootvlei power station, near Balfour, in Mpumalanga, has six boiler and turbine sets – there are five 200 MW units and one 190 MW unit. All units were in commercial operation by July 2011, but the Unit 5 load was restricted to 160 MW, owing to boiler-tube failures on superheaters 3 and 4.  As a result of high electricity demand, it was decided to run the unit at 160 MW until an outage could be declared to replace superheaters 3 and 4.  The unit was re-optimised to full capacity and reclassified to 190 MW in April 2013, after he superheaters were replaced earlier in the year. The station has a capacity to supply peak power of 1 130 MW to the system, with an availability greater than 90% during the winter months.

The Komati power station, situated between Middelburg and Bethal, in Mpumalanga, has an installed capacity of 1 000 MW, generated by four 125 MW units and five 100 MW units. The Komati RTS was a particularly difficult project, owing to the mixture of original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which resulted in the fragmentation of contracts and complicated interfacing.  There are four different turbine designs with two different OEMs; the boilers also have four different designs, from two different OEMs, one of which no longer exists.  The boilers have two different pulverised mill designs and two different OEMs, one of which no longer exists.  Six of the nine generators were refurbished and are hydrogen-cooled; three were beyond recovery and were replaced with modern air-cooled generators.  The project was completed using 262 separate contracts, with a peak staffing of 3 237 people on site.

The three stations will each have an operating life of between 15 and 20 years.

Value
R25.1-billion.

Duration
Construction on the Camden RTS project started in 2004 and was completed in September 2008.

Construction started at Grootvlei in February 2005 and the last unit was completed in April 2013.

Construction at Komati started in 2006. The last unit of the power station was refurbished and handed over for commercial operation in October 2013.

Latest developments
The last of the RTS projects were completed in October 2013. The last unit of the Komati power station entered into commercial operation on October 1, 2013.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
The following companies were involved in the Camden power station:
Steinmüller Engineering Services (boiler plant refurbishment), South African Compensators, or SAC (manufacture of economisers), ABB (common plant switchgear and the switchgear protection), Siemens Building Technologies (control and instrumentation equipment, and installation of fire-detection system), AquaPlan (water plant and sewage plant operation), Howden Africa Holdings (return-to-service and upgrade of the Unit 6 precipitators), Stefanutti & Bressan (station control room, battery room and equipment room; refurbishment and upgrading of compressors and compressed-air system), Loesche (Unit 6 milling plant refurbishment - five mills).

The following companies were involved in the Grootvlei power station:
Fluor, in joint venture with Honeywell (distribution control system), VWS Envig (refurbishment of potable and demineralisation water treatment plants), Acoint venture with Pangaea (engineering, procurement and construction management services), Honeywell (distribution control system), VWS Envig (refurbishment of potable and demineralisation water treatment plants), Actom South Africa (previously Alstom) (modernisation, refurbishment and replacement of the turbine-control and protection system for all six generator units and four steam-feed pump turbines at Grootvlei power station, as well as the retrofitting, refurbishment and upgrade of the gas-cleaning systems for all six generation units at the power station), and Mapelastic Smart (waterproofing).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
ABB head office, tel +27 10 202 5000, +27 86 022 2123 or email info@za.abb.com.
Actom South Africa, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.
AquaPlan, tel +27 11 979 2510, fax +27 11 979 2587 or email enquiries@aquaplansa.co.za.
Camden power station manager, tel +27 17 827 8006 or fax +27 17 827 8208.
Eskom media desk, tel +27 800 3304, fax +27 11 800 3850 or email mediadesk@eskom.co.za.
Eskom national call centre, tel 0860 037 566.
Fluor, tel +27 11 233 3400 or fax +27 11 233 3805.
Grootvlei power station manager, tel +27 17 779 8641 or fax +27 17 779 0021.
Honeywell, tel +1 973 455 2000 or fax +1 973 455 4807.
Howden Africa Holdings projects, tel +27 11 240 4240, fax +27 11 493 1749 or email enquiries@howden.co.za.
Komati power station site manager, tel +27 13 295 9119 or fax +27 13 295 9101.
Loesche, tel +27 11 482 2933, fax +27 11 482 2940 or email loesche4@global.co.za.
SAC, tel +27 16 341 4101/2/3 or fax +27 16 341 2618.
Siemens Building Technologies, tel +49 69 797 6660.
Stefanutti Stockss Holdings, tel +27 11 571 4300, fax +27 11 571 4370 or email holdings@stefstocks.com.
Steinmüller Engineering Services, tel +27 11 806 3000, fax +27 11 806 3330 or email info@steinmuller.co.za.
VWS Envig, email info.vwsenvig@veoliawater.com.