Pretoria - The second unit of the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, Unit 4, was synchronised to the national grid on 25 March 2016, said Eskom.
In a statement on Thursday, the power utility said 19 days earlier Unit 3, the first of the four units of the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme to be connected to the national grid, was also synchronised.
Synchronisation is the process whereby the generator in the unit is electrically connected to the national power grid, in such a way that its power is perfectly aligned with all the other generators to generate and deliver electricity into the national power grid.
“With this, we have fulfilled the commitment we have made to the country that we will synchronise two units at Ingula before the end of March 2016 as we approach our target of having all four units commercially operational by July 2017,” Eskom Group Chief Executive Brian Molefe said.
Molefe said the accelerated drive to complete the massive capacity expansion programme is aimed at ensuring that Eskom realise its aspiration of making load shedding a distant memory.
“After achieving the commercial operation of the Sere wind farm and Medupi’s Unit 6 last year, connecting all Ingula units to the national grid will be a clear indication that South Africa is on its way to eradicating its electricity supply challenges, enabling the country's economy to grow and attract further investments,” he said.
Once completed, all four 333MW units of the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme will produce a total of 1 332 MW.
Eskom is building new power stations and transmission infrastructure to boost the country’s electricity generating capacity.
Once completed in the next five years, the capacity expansion programme, which is the largest in the company’s history, will increase our generation capacity by 17 384MW, transmission lines by 9 756km and substation capacity by 42 470MVA.
“This will enable us to provide security of electricity supply to South African homes and businesses, powering economic expansion and extending electricity to millions of households who currently rely on other fuel sources for domestic cooking and heating,” explained Molefe. – SAnews.gov.za
