Zuma declares Ingula unit open for business

President Jacob Zuma attended the opening and was taken on an underground tour of the site.

This project was started in 2005 and cost around R25 billion. 

Over three million tonnes of rock was excavated in the process and three million kilogrammes of dynamite used to do this.

This massive storage scheme allows water to be pumped from a lower dam to an upper dam during off-peak hours.

During peak times the water is released back down, running through turbines to generate power.

"The good thing with this plant is that it take one to two minutes to start when you need it and it ramps up quick, which is totally different from a fossil power plant," said Eskom's Abram Masango.

President Jacob Zuma addressed the occasion and congratulated Eskom on its successful turnaround strategy, praising it for 11 months without load shedding.

The job of officially declaring unit four operational fell on him.

"It now gives me great pleasure to declare Ingula Power Station Unit 4 officially open for business as part of Eskom's power fleet," President Zuma said.