Medupi Power Station

Medupi Power Station is a dry-cooled coal-fired power station built by Eskom near Lephalale in Limpopo province, South Africa. The name chosen for the station, Medupi, is a Sepedi word which means "gentle rain".[1] With an installed capacity of 4,764 MW, when fully operational it should be the 8th largest coal-fired power station in the world.[2]

Medupi Power Station
CountrySouth Africa
LocationLephalale
Coordinates23°42′00″S 27°33′00″E
StatusUnder construction
Commission date2015 Q1
Owner(s)Eskom
Operator(s)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelFire
Power generation
Units under const.6 × 794 MW
Nameplate capacity4,764 MW
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

History

Original concept

Originally conceived as Project Alpha in 2007, with only three units planned to total 2400MW and estimated cost of R32 billion.

The design was changed at a late stage in 2007 and doubled in size to 4764MW.

The boilers were envisaged to be supercritical in type, which would make them 38% more effective than other Eskom power stations.[3]

A dry cooled system was also intended to use less water than other coal-fired power stations in the fleet.

Original planned cost

Initial project costing was estimated at R69 billion but that was updated to approximately R80 billion by 2007.[4][5]

Project Engineer

Parsons Brinckerhoff was appointed as the project engineer to oversee all construction.[6]

Power output

Design

The power station has six boilers each powering 794 MW turbines, producing 4764 MW in total.

When completed, Medupi became the largest dry-cooled coal-fired power station in the world.[7]

Awards

Medupi's GE Steam Power Systems was awarded a Global Project Excellence Gold Award at the 2016 IPMA Project Excellence Awards.[8]

Main equipment suppliers

Alstom provided the steam turbines, whilst Hitachi provided the super critical boilers.[9]

Coal supply

Medupi is supplied with coal from Exxaro's Grootegeluk coal mine, located north of the site. Eskom placed a contract with Exxaro to supply 14.6 MT of coal per year for 40 years.[10]

Power generation

Construction timeline

Completion of the first two units was expected by 2012 but various delays impacted progress. The first 794 MW unit was commissioned and handed over to Eskom Generation on 23 August 2015. Units 5 to 1 was completed at approximately nine-month intervals thereafter.

Development of the coal yard, early 2014
Fabrication of a boiler structure, mid 2014
Fabrication of thermal chimney, mid 2011
  • 18 July 2008, first structural concrete poured.
  • 21 November 2008, first three air-cooled condenser columns completed.
  • August 2009, Unit 6 boiler lift shaft completed.
  • 9 February 2010, first structural steel erected at Unit 6 boiler.
  • 12 August 2010, Chimney South concrete slide completed to a height of 220m.
  • November 2010, Chimney North concrete slide completed to a height of 220m.
  • May 2011: Chimney South first flue cans lined with borosilicate glass installed.
  • October 2011, upgrade of D1675 access road completed.
  • 8 September 2011, 10 000 ton coal silo completed.
  • 21 November 2011, auxiliary boiler completed.
  • 10 February 2012, direct-current supplies energised.
  • 27 November 2012, first 24-hour performance test of 5,4 km overland coal conveyor.[11]
  • September 2013, Unit 4 generator motor threaded into stator.
  • September 2013, wet run of submerged scraper conveyor conducted, readying boilers for first fire.
  • November 2014 overland ash conveyor commissioned.
  • 18 February 2015, then Public Enterprises Minister, Lynne Brown, announced first unit, no 6 turbine was running at optimal speed of 3000 revolutions per minute.[12][13]
  • 22 February 2016, no 5 turbine undergoes load testing.[14] Commercial operation began on 3 April 2017.
  • 2016, Primary Coal stockyard and conveyor commissioned.
  • December 2016, Ngwedi substation transformer commissioned (part of Medupi Power Station Integration Project).[15]
  • 28 November 2017, Unit 4 was commissioned.[16]
  • 6 June 2018, announced that Unit 3 had entered commercial operation.[16]
  • 9 October 2018, announced that Unit 2 had been synchronised.[17] By November 2019, this unit had reached full commercial operation.[18][19]
  • 27 August 2019, final unit achieved synchronisation.[20]
  • Peripheral works such as overflow coal yards has a expected completion date of 2021.[21]
  • October 2020, No-obligation request for information bid issued to gain insight into flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technologies currently available and to assess their potential suitability for deployment.[22]

Bulk water

In order to meet the growing demand for power generation and mining activities in the Lephalale area, two main bulk raw water transfer systems were also required. This comprised a 4.5 MW pump station and 46 km pipeline extracting from the Mokolo Dam. Phase 1 of this project was commissioned in 2015.[23]

Transmission connection

174 Kilometres of high voltage transmission lines was required from Medupi to the Borutho substation near Mokopane. Construction occurred between November 2015 till the end of 2017.[24]

Delays and defects

The dates for full commercial operation were shifted numerous times mostly due to:

  • labour disputes such as:
    • In September 2012, workers were sent home after vehicles and equipment were damaged.
    • In July 2013, a group of about 1000 workers turned violent damaging vehicles.[25]
    • In July 2014, the National Union of Metal Workers halted work for weeks.[26]
    • In March 2015, an eight week illegal strike escalated into violence, damage and intimidation.[27]

and

  • technical issues such as:
    • steam piping pressure,
    • weld rechecks on the boilers,
    • ash system blockage and [28][29]
    • damages to mill crushers.[30]

Cost escalation

The initial expected cost of R80 billion (2007 Rands),[4] was revised to R154 billion (2013 Rands).[31][32][33]

By 2019, the cost of Medupi was independently estimated at R234 billion (2019 Rands).[34][35]

Some of the primary reasons for the cost escalation was the importing of components affected by a fluctuating Rand exchange rate, redesigns and rework as well as labour disputes and standing time.

Critics

The building of this power station attracted various criticisms.[36][37]

Interference

Critics alleged that the government endorsed the project due to the ruling party, the African National Congress holding a 25% share of a package and stood to make a profit of close to 1 billion Rand.[38][39]

Coal

Backers of the project argued that new generation coal plants was needed.[40] Other critics argued that effective management of coal supplies was needed to existing stations.[41]

Cost

The African Development Bank lent $500 million for the project in 2008.

In 2010, the World Bank agreed to lend South Africa $3.75 billion to assist with several energy projects, with $3.05 billion allocated for completion.

Emissions

The approval of the World Bank loan drew criticism for supporting increased global emissions of greenhouse gases.[42]

The design of the station does however allow for the incorporation of flue gas desulphurisation technology.[43][44]

Inquiry

By 2018, the government's Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a forensic probe into the delays and cost overruns on the completion of Kusile and Medupi Power Stations.[45]

National grid context

The Medupi and Kusile power stations were constructed to increase the electricity generation capacity of South Africa. Insufficient electricity generation had resulted in the ongoing South African energy crisis starting in 2007. This has resulted in years of rolling blackouts.[46][47]

As of 11 February 2019, Eskom reinstated load-shedding due to ongoing strain on the national grid from failing older power stations. The blackouts were as severe as those of 2015, removing up to 4000MW of demand from the national grid, and negatively impacted the economy.[46][47] In December 2019, unusually heavy flooding and rain triggered failures at the Medupi plant and forced Eskom to cut 6000MW from the national power grid, the biggest power cuts in South Africa in a decade.[48][49]

See also

References
  1. "medupi | Northern Sotho to English Translation - Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Northern Sotho Living Dictionary. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  2. "Technoeconomic Assessment of an Advanced Aqueous Ammonia-Based Postcombustion Capture Process Integrated with a 650-MW Coal-Fired Power Station". dx.doi.org. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  3. https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/1961797/eskoms-medupi-coal-power-plant-nears-completion/
  4. "Medupi Sod Turning Press Release". www.eskom.co.za. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  5. "How much Medupi will cost SA". Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  6. http://www.wsp-pb.com/de/What-we-do/Project-Delivery/Projects/Medupi-Power-Station/
  7. "Medupi Power Station". Eskom. Archived from the original on 2013-08-06.
  8. IPMA (2016-12-15). "Excellent Finalists and Winners of IPMA Awards 2016 have been decorated by IPMA". IPMA International Project Management Association. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  9. "R33.6-billion Eskom contracts awarded for Medupi power station". 14 Nov 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-01-11.
  10. "Medupi project on track for scheduled delivery". Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  11. http://www.noordnuus.co.za/articles/news/16070/2012-11-29/medupias-first-24-hours-coal-run-a-success?highlight=
  12. "'Medupi turbine 6 at optimum capacity' - IOL Business Report".
  13. "Medupi: Eskom hails 'new beginning' - IOL Business Report".
  14. "Medupi Unit 5 a step closer to commercial operation". Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  15. https://www.esi-africa.com/regional-news/southern-africa/eskom-commissions-second-500mva-transformer-ngwedi-substation/
  16. "Eskom announces Medupi Unit 3 is commercially operational". The South African. 2019-06-29. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  17. https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/medupi-unit-2-synchronised-grid
  18. https://citizen.co.za/business/business-news/2210820/medupi-unit-2-brought-into-commercial-operation-shortly-after-visit-from-ramaphosa/
  19. https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/357261/eskom-medupi-unit-2-achieves-commercial-operation/
  20. https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/08/south-africa-adds-unit-1-of-medupi-power-station-to-the-national-grid/
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  23. https://www.aurecongroup.com/projects/water/mokolo-crocodile-water-augmentation-project
  24. https://www.esi-africa.com/top-stories/transmission-lines-spanish-firm-to-construct-two-power-lines-in-rsa/
  25. https://fspinvest.co.za/articles/south-africa/yet-more-problems-for-eskom-as-violence-erupts-at-medupi-1096.html
  26. https://ewn.co.za/2015/05/11/Numsa-blames-Eskom-for-Medupi-strike
  27. https://www.fin24.com/Economy/Eskom/Inside-Medupis-labour-pains-20150822
  28. https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/load-shedding/2081445/medupi-is-drowning-in-damaging-ash-as-contractor-forced-to-withdraw/
  29. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/technical-defects-at-medupi-and-kusile-resulting-serious-underperformance-2019-02-01-1
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