Kusile Power Station (previously known as Project Bravo) in South Africa is a coal-fired power plant by state electricity utility EskominMpumalanga. The station consists of 6 generating units with an eventual nameplate capacity of 800 MW each bringing the total installed capacity of 4,800 MW; as of 2023, only 5 units are in operation.
| Kusile Power Station | |
|---|---|
Kusile seen from the N4 freeway in 2019
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| Country | South Africa |
| Location | Witbank, Emalahleni Local Municipality, Mpumalanga |
| Coordinates | 25°54′59″S 28°55′02″E / 25.91639°S 28.91722°E / -25.91639; 28.91722 |
| Status | Under construction |
| Construction began | 2008 |
| Construction cost | US$ 8,700,000,000 |
| Owner(s) | Eskom |
| Operator(s) | Eskom |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 5 × 800 MW |
| Units under const. | 1 x 800 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 4,000 MW |
| Capacity factor | 66.6 percent |
| External links | |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Located about 15 kilometres north of the existing Kendal Power Station near Witbank, Mpumalanga.
Kusile Power Station is designed to consist of six 800 megawatt coal-fired generating units for a total generating capacity of 4,800 megawatts.[1] In 2023 the realistic sustainable output per unit was however projected to be some 350 megawatt.[2]
As of December 2023, Unit 5 was synchronized to the national grid. Following a six-month period of "testing and optimization", the unit's output will be commercially commissioned and bring total station output to 4,000 MW. Kusile would be the first coal power station in Eskom's fleet to be fitted with flue gas desulphurization technology.[3]
Black and Veatch was appointed as the project engineer for construction.
Alstom provided the steam turbines, whilst Hitachi would provide the super critical boilers.
The power utility, Eskom stated that it "will obtain most of the coal required for this Power Station from Anglo Coal's New Largo operations, south east of the Kusile Power Station."[4]
Eskom's consultants estimate that 35 new coal mines will be required to support the Medupi and Kusile plants.[5]
Construction started in August 2008, months after the first of South Africa's rolling blackouts in January 2008.[6]
Initially expected to take 6 years to complete, the project completed Unit 1 until 2017 (approximately 8 years after initial works began) and the entire project not until 2021.[7]
Deficient project management, corruption, labour disputes, vandalism and absenteeism resulted in low operational efficiency and reliability which periodically stalled the generation of electricity 15 years after its construction began.[2]
The dates for full commercial operation were shifted numerous times mostly due to:
This resulted in Kusile and Medupi considered as some of the worst-performing units in Eskom's fleet.[22] In February 2019, Eskom GM for group technology Titus Mathe reported R8 billion would be needed to fix design defects at Medupi and Kusile.[26]
The building of this power station attracted various criticism.
Hitachi Power Africa, a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., found by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to have made US$6 million in corrupt payments to Chancellor House, a front company for the African National Congress, the ruling political party in South Africa.[27] Hitachi agreed to pay US$19 million to settle charges.[27] Hitachi Power Africa rebranded as Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa in February 2014.[28]
Kusile Power Station is estimated to cost R118 billion to complete.[7] This will bring the cost per unit to R19.66bn ($1.34bn) per generating unit, equalling R26.96M ($1.67M) per installed MW.
The following institutions were involved in supporting the project:[29]
The plant is expected to emit est 36.8 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year once completed.[30]
In November 2011, Greenpeace activists chained themselves to a gate and climbed a crane, a few weeks before the country hosted a global conference on climate change. Authorities arrested nine people, on charges of trespassing and malicious damage to property.[31]
The design of the station does allow for the installation of flue gas desulphurization technology, the first of its kind in South Africa.
By 2018, the governments Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a forensic probe into delays and cost overruns on the completion of Kusile and Medupi Control Stations.[32]
In November 2019 South African investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh published an article in the Daily Maverick detailing an alleged slush fund corruption scandal involving Eskom executives and at least four contractors.[33] The scandal involved contracts worth a combined R10 billion resulting in an estimated R75 million being lost due to irregular activities.[33] By the time of the publication of Myburgh's article the construction of Kusile was five years past its original completion date and an estimated R80 billion (equivalent to US$5.4 billion) over budget.[33]
In Dec 2022, ABB was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in a bribery scheme, where it paid more than $37 million in bribes to a high-ranking Eskom official to influence a $160 million contract awarded by the state-owned electric utility company for work on Kusile's cabling and installation work between 2014 and 2017.[34]
Media related to Kusile Power Station at Wikimedia Commons
