Power utility Eskom has pushed the outage of Unit 1 of the Koeberg Power Station to Saturday (10 December) as it struggles to stabilise its systems.<\/p>\n
The group is currently implementing stage 6 load shedding with the hopes that it can de-escalate to stage 5 by the weekend. Experts have warned that taking the Koeberg unit offline – almost 1,000MW – would result in even higher stages of rolling blackouts.<\/p>\n
“While Eskom is ready to commence with the outage, with the contractors and all the requisite resources on standby, grid stability is an important consideration prior to shutting down the Unit 1 reactor to commence the maintenance and refuelling outage,\u201d said Sadika Touffie, Acting Chief Nuclear Officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be a long but necessary outage \u2013 the first of its kind for Koeberg. Eskom has taken care to ensure no undue delays are experienced once the project gets underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outage will be for a duration of approximately six months. The extended unavailability of the unit is due to the planned long outages does mean the electricity supply system may be under additional strain during the outage.<\/p>\n
This will be the 26th refuelling outage on Unit 1 since commissioning and will also see the replacement of the unit\u2019s three steam generators as part of the long-term operation program of the power station. The reactor pressure vessel head on this unit was replaced several years ago.<\/p>\n
Koeberg Nuclear Power Station is an important part of the Eskom generating fleet due to its reliable operation, low primary energy costs, its strategic location in the Western Cape to stabilise the national electricity grid and the fact that it is a clean source of energy.<\/p>\n
Unlike other types of power stations, where fuel can be added to continue generating power, the fuel at a nuclear power station is sealed inside a reactor vessel, which is opened for refuelling every 15 to 18 months.<\/p>\n
This is also a time when the station will perform certain required inspections on equipment and perform more intrusive maintenance that cannot be performed when the unit is online.<\/p>\n
“The rigorous maintenance, inspection, and testing programmes are some of the critical activities that ensure that the plant remains safe and able to deliver this reliable level of performance,” Eskom said.<\/p>\n
The Koeberg units, at 920MW each, are the largest generating units on the African continent. Their safe and reliable operation is a significant contributor to meeting the country\u2019s electricity demand. The Koeberg outages are planned at times of the year when the impact on the overall electricity supply is minimised as far as possible.<\/p>\n
Koeberg Unit 1 has been online for 407 days since the last outage.<\/p>\n
“After careful assessment of the current state of the national grid, Eskom has decided to delay the start of the outage of Unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station to allow time to stabilise the system and the recovery of some generation capacity,” Eskom said.<\/p>\n
The Koeberg Unit 1 refuelling and maintenance outage is therefore planned to now commence on Saturday, 10 December 2022, should the grid conditions have recovered to ensure stability of the system.<\/p>\n