South African power utility Eskom on Monday announced that unit one at the Koeberg nuclear power station in the Western Cape had started delivering electricity to the national network again.
The unit, which had been out of service since November 2005, returned to service last Wednesday, Eskom said.
The integrated Cape recovery plan was launched on March 31 in a bid to manage the electricity supply shortage in the Western Cape, which was due to Koeberg’s technical problems and the transmission network.
The plan contained both supply-side and demand-side measures designed to minimise the risk of power interruptions in the region until both Koeberg units were back in service.
Eskom general manager of strategy Andrew Etzinger, who manages the implementation of the recovery plan in the Western Cape, said that Eskom was satisfied with the progress, especially in terms of demand-side management measures.
”Due to the energy conservation efforts of the residents and industries in the Cape, minimal load shedding has been necessary since February. In addition, to the more than 1,5-million energy-saving lamps that have been distributed in the city free of charge, Eskom is now concentrating on the installation of special geyser blankets and a plan to switch off geysers in some suburbs during peak times by means of a radio signal,” Etzinger said.
A total of 1,52-million energy-saving lamps have been installed in the Cape to date, resulting in 47 megawatts (MW) being saved, Eskom said.
Another 52MW self-generation savings, from consumers who run their own generators instead of using Eskom power, and 5MW in voluntary conservation savings have been achieved.
A further 40MW of savings were identified within the industrial and commercial sectors.
Demand market participation was a measure that allowed Eskom customers to participate in the Eskom power pool by putting their load reductions ”up for sale”, Eskom said.
Using this mechanism, 95MW had been contracted during evening peak periods, with a further 24MW being available during the morning peak periods.
The repair of uinit one at Koeberg power station was completed on May 17 and had now started generating electricity.
Unit Two, which is due for refuelling, was currently generating at 59,8% of its capacity or 512MW of power. The unit will be taken offline next week, Eskom said.
The Cape recovery plan also provided for the leasing of additional generation capacity in the form of three gas-fired generators. These were sourced from General Electric in Dubai, and have arrived at Mossel Bay, where they are being installed on the PetroSA site.
Commercial operation of the machines, with a joint capacity of 60MW, was planned to start by the end of this week, as soon as the fuel line and the connections to the distribution network were completed.
”It is clear that the supply challenges in the Western Cape have sparked some changes in residents’ electricity consumption behaviour, which has been to the benefit of the whole region,” Eskom said. – I-Net Bridge