Medupi Unit 3 reaches commercial operation status

Eskom has announced that  Unit 3 at its Medupi Power Station Project in Lephalale, Limpopo, has attained commercial operation

 status and has been fully synchronised to the national grid. 

According to Eskom spokesperson, Dikatso Mothae this "will surely alleviate the pressure on the electricity national grid."

Unit 3 joins Units 6, 5 and 4 which have been commercially contributing electricity to the national grid for some time. 

The progress came after intensive continuous testing activities, said Eskom in a statement. 

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"Unit 3 is a major milestone that signifies that Medupi is nearing its completion; therefore it cannot be taken lightly," said Mothae. 

 Eskom explained that Unit 3 is distinctively different in that it is the first of the last three Units is supported by the auxiliary plant systems from the northern side of the site as well as the new control and instrumentation system.

These, as well as the new interfaces, resulted in significant challenges different to those of the first three units, it noted. 

The Medupi Power Station Project in Lephalale is a green-fields coal-fired power plant comprising of six units rated in total at 4 800MW installed capacity. Construction activities commenced in May 2007 and the power station will have fully installed capacity by 2020.