Eskom pushes back Koeberg outage to Saturday

The embattled power utility says the delay is to allow the power system to stabilise and return some generation capacity to service.

The refuelling and maintenance outage, which is set to last approximately six months, has had to be pushed back amid stage 6 load shedding.

Stage 6 load shedding is expected to last until Friday when Eskom will ease it to stage 5.

Acting Chief Nuclear Officer Sadika Touffie says while the utility is ready to start, grid stability is an important consideration.

"This is going to be a long but necessary outage – the first of its kind for Koeberg. Eskom has taken care to ensure no undue delays are experienced once the project gets underway.

“The extended unavailability of the unit is due to the planned long outages does mean the electricity supply system may be under additional strain during the outage.

This will be the 26th refuelling outage on Unit 1 since commissioning and will also see the replacement of the unit’s three steam generators as part of the long-term operation program of the power station."

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