![\"ingula-system\"](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Ingula-system.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEskom recently synchronised the final unit of its Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, which is located on the cross-border of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n
Eskom said Unit 3 was previously synchronised to the national grid on 6 March 2016 and supported the grid until 6 April 2016 when an electrical incident occurred.<\/p>\n
The scheme was supposed to be fully operational by 2013, but suffered a few delays; costs also broke the initial budget of R8.9 billion, ballooning to more than R35 billion, according to reports.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter almost 500,000 man-hours of work without any safety incidents the team completed the repair and has synchronised the unit back onto the national grid,\u201d said the power utility.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ingula\u2019s Unit 4 went into commercial operation on 10 June 2016 while Units 2 and 1 were put into commercial operation on the 22 August 2016 and 30 August 2016 respectively.<\/p>\n
Ingula\u2019s four units are located 350 metre underground in the world\u2019s largest machine hall in mud-rock.<\/p>\n
To turn the more than 500 ton rotating mass of the generator rotor and turbine, water is released from Ingula\u2019s upper dam, Bedford Dam, situated 460m higher and two kilometres away.<\/p>\n
Water rushes down to the turbines at around 60km per hour with enough water passing through each turbine to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in six seconds. Rotating at 428 revolutions per minute, each unit will produce 333 MW, a total for the station of 1 332MW.<\/p>\n
Upon completion Ingula will be Africa\u2019s newest and largest pumped storage scheme and the 14th largest in the world.<\/p>\n