A coal storage silo that collapsed at Majuba power station in Mpumalanga had been showing signs of stress since January, trade union Solidarity said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“It came to our attention that Eskom was well aware of the silo problems since January,” Solidarity head of industry Deon Reyneke told Sapa by phone.<\/p>\n
The collapse at the weekend caused Eskom to warn of rolling blackouts countrywide, with the parastatal saying a crack in a coal storage silo on Saturday afternoon caused the loss of 1800MW of Majuba’s total capacity.<\/p>\n
At the time spokesman Andrew Etzinger said the silo ruptured or cracked and employees were evacuated. He said it “just collapsed”.<\/p>\n
But Reyneke said Solidarity members employed by Eskom said the power utility started monitoring resonance in vibrations at the silo earlier this year.<\/p>\n
“The monitoring equipment picked up that vibrations that used to happen every 30 seconds in June and July, was happening every three to five seconds three weeks ago,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Eskom did nothing to correct the problem… According to information I have no preventative maintenance was put in place.”<\/p>\n
He said the resonance in vibrations meant that the silo was under stress and cracks could be seen.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Etzinger said the silo was inspected last year.<\/p>\n
“When the silo was inspected last year it was found to be structurally sound,” he said.<\/p>\n
“As Eskom we want to ask Solidarity to give us the relevant information they have that could assist with our investigation.”<\/p>\n
Before the collapse Majuba supplied 3600MW, roughly 10 percent of the country’s electricity capacity, Etzinger said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“The conveyer belt systems, which feeds coal to the power station, were damaged and therefore we can’t get coal into the power station,” he said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Eskom would bring mobile coal conveyer belts from other stations to Majuba as a temporary solution, but this would take time, said Etzinger.<\/p>\n
Eskom said on Sunday the collapse could cause rolling blackouts across the country but on Monday scheduled power cuts were put on hold.<\/p>\n
The silo, which stores over 10,000 tons of coal, cracked on Saturday afternoon, affecting coal supplies to all six units at the power station.<\/p>\n
Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Cape Town residents were warned of power cuts.<\/p>\n
More on Eskom<\/p>\n
Telkom warns over Eskom load shedding<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n SA business needs Eskom certainty<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n