First renewed Koeberg unit passes final test
Eskom has announced that the full load rejection test of the refurbished Unit 1 at Koeberg Power Station on Saturday, 30 December 2023, was a success.
The utility said this was the final test that needed to be performed following the installation of the unit’s new steam generators, in accordance with the South African Grid Code (SAGC) requirements.
“The successful completion of the test serves as an encouragement as Eskom plans to undertake similar steam generator replacement activities on Unit 2,” the utility said.
The test was used to “verify and demonstrate” the unit’s ability to supply its auxiliary load and return to steady state conditions following a sudden disconnection from the national grid.
“As part of the steam generator replacement project, significant changes were made on numerous plant components, including control systems,” Eskom explained in its previous announcement of the test.
“Therefore, in line with SAGC, the response of the unit to a full load rejection incident needs to be tested and verified.”
Koeberg Unit 1 was offline for nearly a year — from December 2022 until early November 2023 — for its steam generator replacement and long-term refuelling.
Its unavailability has cost the grid roughly 980MW of generating capacity.
The unit was initially supposed to be back online by June 2023, but the project team encountered several unexpected and unexplained issues, resulting in multiple delays.
Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa anticipates Eskom won’t run into the same troubles with the refurbishment of Unit 2, which was taken offline on 11 December 2023.
“I spoke to the team and said we have learnt from the mistakes and shortcomings relating to unit 1,” said Ramokgopa.
“We asked them to keep to the timelines of returning unit 2.”
However, both units will rarely run concurrently over the next few years, as each will have to undergo 200-day outages after Unit 2’s refurbishment is completed.
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