Three of Kusile Power Station’s four units will be offline from October until April 2025.
Eskom has said that the units will be taken offline to repair chimney damage to the flue gas ducts, preventing the use of the flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) plant. According to the VGBe consortium’s Independent Assessment of Eskom’s Operational Situation report released in March, the chimney damage resulted from improper operational and maintenance practices.
The consortium consisting of Dornier, KWS, RWE and Steag, was tasked with assessing the effectiveness of all 14 Eskom coal-fired power stations during the period of March to May 2023.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment granted Eskom a postponement to fixing the chimneys, allowing the utility to bypass the FGD plant. The extended deadline for the repairs is March next year. Eskom announced in June 2023 that the repairs to the permanent stack would be completed by December this year.
A spokesperson from Eskom confirmed to Energize that the schedule for the units to be taken offline and repaired is as follows:
- Kusile Unit 3 from October 1 until November 31, 2024
- Kusile Unit 1 from November 30 until February 28, 2025
- Kusile Unit 2 from March 10 until April 26, 2025
Kusile has two more units that have yet to be commissioned. Eskom said that Unit 5 will be online by the end of June, and Unit 6 will be in use by April next year.
