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 (FGD) 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

Outgoing Eskom CEO Brian Dames has confirmed that Eskom has “exercised its contractual rights” by appointing Siemens to replace Alstom as the supplier of the boiler protection system (BPS) for Units 6 and 5 at the Medupi power station project.  The change to the BPS contract has not resulted in a revision of Eskom’s guidance that Medupi’s first 800 MW unit, or Unit 6, will become operational during the second half of 2014.

Alstom remains responsible for the other elements of the control and instrumentation (C&I) system at Medupi, including the balance-of-plant operations, the field instrumentation and the unit-control system.

The BPS forms part of a larger C&I package for which Alstom remains responsible. Alstom South Africa’s Riccardo Pierobon has described the BPS as a small part of its overall C&I contract, adding that the other systems are “performing to specification”. The French multinational is also installing the turbines and generators, which represents the “vast bulk of Alstom’s work on this plant”.

Meanwhile, progress at Medupi continues, with the utility reporting in its January 2014 New Build News that:
• on 10 February 11, 2014, the back Unit 6 generator and transformers were back-energised through the distributive control system (DCS)
• at the end of January the incoming coal system from the 10 000 t silo went live, with the under silo feeder conveyors and DCS being successfully commissioned.
• the Unit 3 feed water tank has been pressure tested successfully, allowing for the remainder of the in and out water piping to be installed.
• the turbine hall Unit 4 lube oil room has been handed over for installation of the equipment for the turbine lube oil system.
• the civil works for the coal stockyard pollution control dam has been completed.
• two of the auxiliary plant fans have been safety cleared, with test runs completed and the area subsequently being declared safe for commissioning and testing activities.
• four of the five auxiliary systems have been safety cleared and commissioning is in progress.
• the C&I DCS at the coal silo for feeder No 1 and 2, located at the Exxaro coal mine, has been safety cleared and is ready for commissioning.
• the ash dump substation switchgear room epoxy has been completed, which will provide access to allow for the cable for the ash dump system and to connect the switchgear that will enable the power-up of the system.
• the oil pipeline can be installed from the unloading bay to the bulk fuel oil pump house for bulk fuel oil unloading.
• the bulk fuel offloading system has been successfully commissioned and the latest load of fuel oil – 200 t of bunker 150 fuel oil – can be offloaded using the DCS controls.

It was further reported by Eskom that:
• in September 2013, the Unit 4 generator motor was threaded into the stator.  This action requires precision, as the clearance is only a few millimeters.  All stationary equipment between the rotor and the stator can now be fitted and the generator coupled to the LP2 rotor. Further, the wet run of the submerged scraper conveyer has been successfully completed.  This system removes the ash from the bottom of the boiler – another essential step in getting the boiler ready for first fire.
• in January 2014, the boiler separators, which were initially installed for Unit 6, were sucessfully cut out.  The new replacement separators will now be installed to separate the steam and steam-water droplets.
• in February 2014, following close cooperation between team Medupi and the contractors, all boiler issues were resolved, resulting in the boiler frame for Unit 1 being installed to start. On February 10, the back energising of the Unit 6 generator and unit transformers through the distributed control system started.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Main packages:
Parsons Brinckerhoff (execution partner); Roshcon (enabling civils); Rula Bulk Material Handling (coal overland conveyor and ash dump conveyor); Hitachi Power Africa (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 (C&I); Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions South Africa (CBMS); 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) and Aveng Grinaker-LTA (buildings phase 1 and 3);

On budget and on time?
The project will meet the revised end-of-year deadline for the flow of first power and will cost R105-billion, excluding indirect costs.

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.
HPE, 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.
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, fax +27 86 699 6999.
Konecranes, tel +27 11 864 2800.
Wade Walker, tel +27 11 466 0377.