Kendal power station
Photo by: Creamer Media
State-owned power utility Eskom has acknowledged the environmental breaches emanating from the operation of its Kendal power station and is in the process of mending the technical faults that led to the environmental breaches.
However, the utility advises that this will take some time to be completed, owing to a significant amount of repair work required to the power station’s generation units.
The station has been operating above the emission limits since protest action late in 2018 left infrastructure vandalised and damaged. This included damage to an electrostatic precipitator and a dust handling plant.
Eskom says the repair process will be lengthy, owing to repairs of various units needing to happen sequentially and long lead times being needed to manufacture components.
The utility has been granted an emission compliance extension while the repairs are carried out on the relevant units. The repairs timeframe stretches beyond the first quarter of 2021.
Eskom explains that if it is to shut down the three units currently operating above emission limits, this will contribute to the need to implement load-shedding.