Medupi during early stages of construction (Pib By Eskom)

The South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, has revealed that Eskom’s Medupi Power Station’s unit 6 turbine commissioning reached a critical milestone with the optimum speed of 3 000 revolutions per minute.

According to the ministry, the synchronisation of unit 6 has been delayed for more than six weeks after Eskom embarked on a cautious route to ensure that all systems were in place before synchronisation of the unit.

“This milestone paves the way for the synchronisation of Medupi’s unit 6 and I expect it to take place within weeks,” said Brown.

“I want to congratulate Eskom on achieving this important milestone,” said Minister Brown during the State of the Nation debate in the National Assembly.”

According to Eskom, Medupi is a greenfield coal-fired power plant project located west of Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The project is the fourth dry-cooled, baseload station built in 20 years by Eskom after Kendal, Majuba and Matimba power stations.  The name “Medupi” is a Sepedi word which means “rain that soaks parched lands, giving economic relief”.

When complete, the power station will be the fourth largest coal plant in the southern hemisphere, and will be the biggest dry-cooled power station in the world. The boiler and turbine contracts for Medupi are the largest contracts that Eskom has ever signed in its 90-year history. The planned operational life of the station is 50 years.