South Africa faces a record year for power outages after an explosion damaged the Medupi power station on Sunday.
According to preliminary findings, the blast at the Medupi power station on Sunday was caused by a process to find an external leak. “At this point, we do not have details as to what it will cost and how long it will take to repair the generator,” Eskom Holdings said in a reply to questions.
The explosion threatens to unravel any progress made by Eskom to improve performance and avoid more power cuts that have an effect on South Africa’s economy, which is already struggling due to the effects of the pandemic and last month’s deadly riots.
Eskom made a pledge in March that a maintenance drive to improve performance of its coal-fired stations would start yielding results from September. The explosion at the Medupi power station, which is being constructed at a cost of R135 billion, demonstrates the utility’s inability to prevent faults throughout the power grid.
According to data from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research blackouts through the first half of 2021 were equivalent to about 70% of last year’s unprecedented outages.
“The damage is extensive” and will involve replacing equipment, said Anton Eberhard, a professor at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. “From the insurance claim to ordering the parts, the entire process could take at least two years,” he said.
Eskom said that the explosion was caused by a deviation from procedure and that the managers that were involved under precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of an investigation.
At this point there is no basis to suspect any malicious intent for the unfortunate incident,” it said.
Sources: Business Tech, Moneyweb
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