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Warning System Failed at Eskom’s $16 Billion Power Plant

Warning System Failed at Eskom’s $16 Billion Power Plant

(Bloomberg) -- Power outages that began in South Africa last week were partly caused by the failure of warning systems at its 228 billion rand ($16 billion) flagship plant.

Equipment designed to prevent damage at the 4,600 megawatt Medupi plant failed to switch off the conveyor belt that moves thousands of tons of coal from the Grootegeluk coal mine to the boilers when it began to malfunction, Eskom said in a response to questions on Tuesday. That led to hundreds of meters of the belt ripping.

Coal had to be delivered to the plant by truck. That’s boosted costs, caused congestion and left the plant with insufficient fuel.

The units at Medupi are now generating power but are not working at full capacity, Eskom said. Full generation is expected by the end of this week.

“There are defects at the station,” Eskom said of the warning system failure.

Medupi, along with the Kusile plant that’s due to be completed in 2023, are the main reason for Eskom’s 450 billion rand debt. They are years behind schedule and have been plagued by technical issues including the installation of deficient boilers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Gordon Bell

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