Preloved spare part arrives to boost Medupi
Slightly used generator stator will speed up return to service of stricken unit 4
● A vital 360t generator component that could add 800MW to Medupi power station’s output has arrived at Richards Bay harbour.
Now comes the challenging part — transporting it nearly 1,000km by road to the troubled power station in Lephalale, Limpopo.
The generator stator, which will replace one that was damaged when Medupi’s unit 4 exploded in 2021, sailed from the Netherlands where it was bought second-hand from the Hemweg power station.
Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena said buying the used component, which was immediately available, cut the waiting time for a new stator by about 18 months.
“The repairs to the [Medupi] unit required a long outage because of the lead time required to procure [a new] generator stator, which was scheduled for delivery in November 2025,” she said.
“In light of this prolonged lead time and its impact on the power system, Eskom sourced a used generator stator from the Netherlands to use in the interim.”
She said the Dutch stator, which cost R40m, had a remaining lifespan of 25 years — it was designed to last for 50 years, but Hemweg had decommissioned it in 2018 after running for only half that time.
A new stator, costing R290m, is on order and is due to be delivered in November next year.
Medupi general manager Zweli Witbooi said the team involved in shipping the stator had “navigated a lot of challenges”.
“Everybody was involved. Two of our own people from Medupi — Yonela Zongo, the project manager, and engineer Johannes Bruwer — left their families at home and spent Christmas in the Netherlands to ensure we get our generator. Being from the bushveld with its sunny weather, you must know what a sacrifice that was,” Witbooi laughed.
He expects the stator to arrive at the station at the end of next month.
“They are doing final testing now to ensure everything is still fine after the sea voyage and then it will hit the road. We have budgeted 60 days to install it from when it arrives. After that we will start commissioning it,” Witbooi said. He said the stator was one of three major components in a generator, along with the casing and the rotor.
“The casing contains the main electricity generating component, which is the rotor. This is a standalone component and you can buy it separately. We have a brand-new spare, so that is not an issue.
“The stator is bolted onto the casing. It is really just a hollow part where you slot in the rotor. We are bringing in the stator and the casing which we will adapt. The good news is that the frame itself is an exact match to our specifications, so we don’t have to change the foundations. The only things that will need configuration are the coolers.”
Mokoena said five units were currently in service at Medupi, contributing 4,000MW to the grid. The return of unit 4 would boost this to 4,800MW, she said.
Mokoena said the stator had arrived at Richards Bay ahead of schedule after leaving the Netherlands on January 18, and the time needed to truck it to Lephalale depended on the weather and whether Eskom could obtain waivers for “extended hours of travel”.
Eskom’s group executive for generation, Bheki Nxumalo, said the second-hand stator was an interim solution that would allow unit 4 to return to service as soon as August — 18 months earlier than the original date of February 2026.
“This will add the much-needed 800MW, equivalent to almost a stage of load-shedding. We acknowledge that, given the size and weight of the generator, the logistics required to transport it to Medupi will be a challenge. However, plans are in place to mitigate risks of damage while in transit.”
One of the players in the deal was Mario Colijn, a retired senior plant operator at Hemweg power station in Amsterdam.
“I know the station like my broekzak [pants pocket], as we say in Holland. We are all cheering our generator on as it makes its journey to its new home in Africa,” he said this week.
“It was only run for about 25 years and should last a substantial time longer if maintained properly.”