Eskom has successfully added 800 MW to the national grid with the synchronisation of Kusile Power Station’s final unit, Unit 6, on Sunday (March 23) – “a key milestone in Eskom’s strategic objective of adding 2 500 MW of new capacity to the grid by March,” the utility said in a statement.
“This achievement marks a crucial step towards completing one of South Africa’s largest infrastructure projects.”
The 4 800 MW coal-fired power station near eMalahleni in Mpumalanga is expected to reach full commercial operation in the second half of this year following testing and optimisation. “Eskom is at a critical point returning megawatts to the grid as we are currently in a constrained state. This milestone is a testament to the unwavering dedication and resilience of Eskom’s employees and contractors,” said Eskom Group Executive for Generation Bheki Nxumalo.
Completion of Kusile also brings Eskom’s new-build programme, which began in the mid-2000s, close to an end. Its sister station, Medupi, will return 800 MW from Unit 4 by the end of April after a lengthy outage caused by generator failure.
Kusile is also the first station in Africa to implement wet flue gas desulphurisation technology reducing sulphur dioxide emissions.
Energy policy expert Anton Eberhard cautions against celebrating the milestone, pointing to the delays and cost overruns that have plagued the Kusile project. “There is little to celebrate with this Kusile mega coal power station, the final unit coming online only now, 17 years after the final investment decision was taken in 2008, costing nearly three times its original budget,” he posted on social media platform X. “It has been a site of major corruption by a number of Eskom employees… draining the fiscus of close to half a trillion rand in bailouts between 2008-2026.”
