Koeberg return delayed
Eskom is confident that Koeberg Power Station’s two nuclear generators will be operational in time to renew the power station’s operating licence.
However, the synchronisation of its Unit 1 generator has been delayed as it has yet to be fully synchronised to the grid.
Eskom had previously said the generating unit would be synchronised to the grid by the end of October.
“The new steam generators are already successfully performing their role,” Eskom told MyBroadband.
“The delays currently being experienced are associated with the normal start-up of the Unit and not the steam generators.”
It emphasised that the steam generators are not causing delays to the unit’s return to service.
However, some tests still need to be carried out before the turbine can prepare for synchronisation to the grid.
“The steam generators will not delay the return to service, and the unit will soon be back in service,” Eskom stated.
Regarding the commencement of the steam generator replacement for Koeberg Unit 2, Eskom said the outage will start soon after Unit 1 is synchronised to the grid.
MyBroadband also asked Eskom if it was confident that both units would be up and running in time to renew Koeberg Power Station’s operating licence.
It responded with an emphatic “yes”.
Not only do the generators contribute significant amounts of power to the national grid — approximately 930MW each at full capacity — which could have a marked impact on load-shedding, but Eskom must have both up and running in time to renew the power station’s operation licence.
Chris Yelland, managing director at EE Business Intelligence, said further delays to their synchronisation could put the renewal at risk.
“I’m not predicting that there will be a shutdown. I’m just saying that the longer these delays occur, and the more Eskom gets pushed into a corner, the greater the risk,” said Yelland.
“I think the risk is not insignificant at this point because of the fact that there is a lot that could go wrong.”
“Eskom has even acknowledged that there’s a whole series of tests that have to be done. They get done in sequence, and if they experience problems during one test, they have to stop the tests and sort out the problem,” he added.
Eskom submitted a licence extension application for Koeberg to the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). Its current licence expires in July 2024.
The NNR must decide if it is safe to extend the licence by a further 20 years once the steam generator replacements are complete.
If it hasn’t been refurbished and relicensed in time, Eskom will be forced to close the power plant.
Return date confusion
On 20 October 2023, Eskom released a statement saying Keoberg’s Unit 1 generator would be synchronised to the grid by the end of the month.
However, that same day, News24 reported that the unit’s start-up would be delayed until 13 November 2023 as critical tests still needed to be completed.
“During the start-up, as all the activities are in series and a precursor to the next activity, any emerging defect becomes a delay to the plan as it has to be fixed before the plan can continue,” News24 quoted Eskom nuclear chief Keith Featherstone as saying.
“Achieving each of the milestones involves the completion of many tests to verify all the safety systems are operating correctly.”
“Up until now, the delays that have been experienced are typically around the review of the stroke times of values measured during the performance of the tests, as we have to assess deviations from previous values and ensure they are adjusted properly.”
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