Work progressing well at Medupi

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Pretoria - Work is progressing well at the Medupi power plant with the first gas burner having been fired up this week, Eskom said on Thursday.

In an update on the massive infrastructure project, the power utility said that the first gas burner was fired up on Monday at the coal fired power station situated in Lephalale, Limpopo.

“The firing-up of the gas burner supports the ignition of oil combustion for the first oil fire. This activity follows on from the filling of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tank with Liquefied Petroleum Gas and the safety clearance of the distribution piping from the LPG tank to the LPG Burner skids.

“Medupi is now well on its way towards the First Oil Fire,” said Eskom.

The Joint Oversight Portfolio Committees on Public Enterprises and Energy visited the Medupi Project on Monday.

The purpose of the visit was for the committees to assess progress that has been made since their last visit.

“Positive feedback was received from the committee and this demonstrated appreciation for the progress achieved at Medupi given the magnitude of the project,” noted the utility.

In previous months Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said she did not want to see any further delays in bringing the long-awaited Medupi power plant online in December.

The December 2014 deadline had been set to bring the 4 764 MW, coal-fired power station online to ease the pressure from Eskom’s ageing power grid. - SAnews.gov.za