Further Medupi delays remain a concern as first unit inches towards start-up
The first of six 794 MW units at State-owned power utility Eskom’s Medupi coal-fired power station could be synchronised by the end of the third quarter, Medupi GM Roman Crookes said at a press briefing in Lephalale, Limpopo, earlier this month. But he also stressed that further delays to the R105-billion project could not be discounted.
He also stated that it would take up to four months for the unit to ramp up to full capacity.
Delays to the boiler, which was due to start producing power in December last year, are attributed to technical challenges, including problems with the welding on the boilers and the control and instrumentation (C&I) systems for the units.
Engineering News reported last month that Eskom exercised its “contractual rights” by appointing Siemens to replace Alstom as the supplier of the boiler protection system (BPS) at the Medupi project.
The BPS forms part of a larger C&I package for which Alstom remains responsible.
“We also found that the welding procedure qualification records (WPQR) were not verified by the relevant people at Hitachi, – which is responsible for the construction of the boilers, resulting in Eskom having to cut out welds up to 40 mm thick and redoing the WPQRs,” Crookes explained.
He added that Eskom had appointed its own quality-control personnel at the Hitachi plants responsible for the construction of the boilers.
Crookes noted that Siemens would undergo its first factory acceptance test in May.
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