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A steam generator at Eskom’s Koeberg plant (near Cape Town) has been shut down “in the interest of safety” after a significant leak was reported Monday. Although there is no risk to the structure or workers on site, moving means that our chances of encountering more loss of load simply increase.
Koeberg plant leak ‘increases risk of loss of load’
Koeberg Unit 1 will now be offline until May, and Eskom will operate without a facility contributing nearly 1,000 MW to the national power grid. As we’ve seen recently, the margins are very tight when officials decide whether they need to implement continuous power outages, and the long-term outage tips the balance enormously in our favor.
Chris Yelland, a leading energy analyst in South Africa, insists that these developments will have serious consequences for energy supply over the next four months:
“An increasing leakage rate at one of the three steam generators at Koeberg Unit 1 has caused the 900 MW unit to be taken out of service for repairs, other routine maintenance and refueling originally scheduled for February. 2021. The unit will be operational again in May 2021. This will slightly increase the probability of a load drop. “
Chris Yelland talks about Koeberg’s impact on cargo shedding schedule
Eskom will lose 900 MW of power
Eskom confirmed through a statement that they are still trying to establish what caused the leak at Koeberg. The silver lining to this gray cloud is that Unit 2 is still fully operational, but the threat of a cargo shed remains great.
“Although the leak rate was within safe limits, a conservative decision was made to shut down Unit 1 from Koeberg for repairs. During this period, the unit will also undergo routine maintenance, and will only return to service during May 2021. The cause of the increased leak rate will be addressed. There is no risk to the plant, the personnel or the environment ”.
“The steam generator is a tubular heat exchanger, which mechanically dries the steam produced during the generation process. The plant shutdown takes several hours, and once done, fuel will be discharged from the reactor core to allow maintenance activities to take place. Unit 2, however, is still running at full power. “
Eskom statement
Koeberg Unit 1 was shut down for repairs, routine maintenance and disruption of refueling@ News24 @SABCNews @NewzroomAfrika @NCA @IOL pic.twitter.com/9wxzCD0Qdt
– Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) January 4, 2021
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