Kusile Power Station's Unit 5 Synchronized To National Grid For First Time: Eskom

State power firm Eskom announced on Sunday that Kusile power station's Unit 5 was synchronized to the national grid for the first time to boost the nation's energy capacity by an additional 800 megawatts.

For the initial six months, the electricity will be supplied intermittently during the testing and optimization phase and later will be transferred to commercial operations.

"As part of the Generation Recovery Plan, the synchronization of Kusile Unit 5 marks another significant milestone of sustainably improving our generation performance. This will contribute the much-needed power to the grid," Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom's Group Executive for Generation said in a statement on Eskom's official website.

"We are encouraged that that this achievement of our recovery plan immediately follows the return of the three units that were brought online from end September 2023, bringing a total of 3 200MW into the grid, which will further improve the energy availability factor (EAF) and help strengthen South Africa's electricity capacity," he added.

Nxumalo lauded the Kusile project team's commitment to the power grid, noting that they worked relentlessly to ensure that the project was completed and worked flawlessly.

"I have confidence that they will continue to work with determination to successfully deliver Unit 5 to commercial operation," he said.

Calib Cassim, Eskom's Acting Group Chief Executive, anticipates this unit to boost the country's economy, adding that there is "enormous effort made to continue the remarkable progress on the new build program and the Generation Recovery Plan."

"We remain focused on improving the performance of the Generation fleet to reduce the impact of load shedding felt countrywide, and to lessen the costs of supplementing capacity using the diesel-powered plant," Cassim added.

Meanwhile, Eskom reported progress in the remaining construction and commissioning of Unit 6, which upon completion, will have six units generating a maximum 4,800MW. This will make Kusile South Africa's largest construction project and will be the world's fourth largest coal plant.

In addition, the power firm said repair work on the permanent stack for units 1, 2, and 3 is advancing smoothly and expects to bring Medupi Unit 4 back into operation by the end of July 2024. These initiatives, coupled with the successful completion of Kusile Unit 5 and the return of the three Kusile units, will enhance energy availability and support Eskom's Generation Recovery Plan.

Last month, Eskom named Dan Marokane as the new CEO of the energy company and he will join no later than March 31, 2024.

Cassim, former Eskom chief financial officer, took over former CEO Andre de Ruyter's position temporarily until a new CEO was appointed. The former CEO of Eskom abruptly resigned from his post in February 2022 and alleged that members of the energy company were involved in corruption.