Power station woes drive workers to despair

A shortage of spares and constant boiler tube leaks are among the persistent problems at most of the Mpumalanga power stations that played a role in plunging SA into stage 6 load-shedding, power plant employees say.

At Kendal power station in Ogies, only three of the six generating units were working this week due to damage to a coal conveyor belt.

Employees said the main problem was a dire shortage of spares, which led to delays in repairing the “torn-out” conveyor belt.

“One conveyor belt supplies three units, so since last week these units cannot run and that has contributed to the stage 6 loadshedding we are seeing,” said an employee, who did not want to be named.

He said staff were demotivated as the lack of spares could be avoided with better planning.

“If it was not for the shortages of spares, these units could have been brought back last week already.”

At Camden power station in Ermelo, a boiler leak was the reason one unit remained out on Friday.

Workers at Camden, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Sunday Times the station experienced problems with poor-quality coal, which led to boiler tube leaks. “We ask ourselves: why is this coal not properly checked to ensure that we are getting good-quality coal?”

At the recently built Kusile power station, near eMalahleni, workers told of constant breakdowns, with none of its four units working at full capacity even if they’re all onstream.

“The biggest problem is that this plant is not up to standard. For example, it’s supposed to eject ash automatically but that doesn’t work and as a result ash removal has to be done manually,” an employee said.

He said defects such as the nonfunctioning automatic ash removal system and malfunctioning new technology, which is meant to measure carbon emissions, often led to units breaking down.

“Unit 1 was supposed to be returned on the 20th but was delayed while unit 2 operated at 650MW and has been having other problems, with unit 3 having been out for a while due to problems with its fans,”a Kusile employee said.

He said they were demotivated because the plant kept failing despite being relatively new.

The multibillion-rand station, parts of which are still under construction, is expected to be one of the world’s largest coal-powered plants, but is riddled with defects.

“Unit 3 was brought back on Monday last week but tripped on the same day. They brought it back again on Tuesday but it still has problems with what we call veins of the fans, which have been dislocated,” the employee said.

“When carbon emissions are high and reach a certain limit, a unit cannot be run at full capacity. For example, unit 4, which at full capacity delivers 800MW, can now only go up to 730MW, and it’s been two months now.”