Media Briefing

Damage to Majuba power station coal storage silo

03 November 2014

Tshediso Matona Chief Executive

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Introduction

Conclusion

Majuba power station incident

The system outlook and plan

3

Introduction

Conclusion

Majuba power station incident

The system outlook and plan

Majuba power station – situated in the Mpumalanga Province

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Majuba

It is the youngest

commercially operated

power station in the fleet

Majuba Power Station

• Majuba Power Station, situated in Mpumalanga, has an installed capacity of 4110 MW generated

• The station is 13 years old and became fully operational in 2001 when the last of its six units came on line

• Three, 10 000 ton coal storage silos were constructed in 1994

• The latest civil visual inspection was conducted in September 2013 by an external specialist, in line with best practice

• The concrete structure was found to be in good condition.

• Some moderate cases of external physical damage that was reported has since been repaired

• The risk classification was low

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Sequence of events (1 November 2014)

1 November 2014

All Majuba power station

units were running

normally, contracted

loads

Approximately 12:30

Operating staff

reported a visible

crack on silo 20

Immediately

thereafter all

personnel

working in the

area evacuated

13:12

Silo 20

collapsed

No injuries

reported.

The area was

secured and

protected

Station output

immediately reduced

from

3 600 MW to 1800 MW

and currently running at

600 MW

Majuba silo

Majuba response

Senior Engineers and

members of the Executive

Committee immediately

joined the Power Station

manager on-site

Eskom triggered its

Emergency Command

Centre. First priority was

to protect the power grid

and look at the impact of

power supply to the

country

Arrangements

were made for

permits to

transport mobile

coal feeders to

site to enable a

manual feed of

coal to five of the

six units. This to

ensure that the

power station is

able to operate at

a minimum of half-

load

The cause and

cost are yet to

be determined

as the incident

is now under

investigation

As a result of the early evacuation no injuries were reported

The situation is

being constantly

monitored and

progress updates

on contingency

plans will be

communicated

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Introduction

Conclusion

Majuba power station incident

The system outlook and plan

Majuba

Main Supply, Coal from Coal Stock Yard,

(Overland conveyers), 2 250 T/h

Coal Supply to the Unit, (boiler Incline

conveyer) 800T/h

Max burn rate per Unit, 375 T/h. Station burn rate, 54 000 T/day

Over silo link Conveyers, 1200T/h

Majuba

Coal

stockyard

Majuba

Majuba

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Introduction

Conclusion

Majuba power station incident

The system outlook and plan

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Summer profile

• The system remains tight in summer, with different challenges due to the load profile

• Unlike winter, where the demand increases significantly during the evening peak

(5pm - 9pm), the demand profile during summer is much flatter with an increased

demand profile throughout the day

• This is because of a relatively high percentage of almost constant industrial load and the

impact of air conditioning in the commercial and marginally in the residential sector

during the day. The significant residential component over evening peak is not as

evident in summer. If there is a constraint, the system is constrained all day

• Summer is typically maintenance season, but this summer maintenance will increase

based on the generation strategy as most of the maintenance is fixed and can’t be

deferred.

• The challenge is to ensure that there is sufficient generation capacity throughout the

day, as we continue with our maintenance plan and focus on reducing unplanned

outages

• The degree of tightness will depend on the performance of the plant and the level of

unplanned maintenance (UCLF) as well as the available capacity

• Eskom will not compromise its generation plant and will load shed if necessary

to protect the power system from total collapse

Summer profile continued

• Summer poses a different challenge as the profile looks flat and our planned maintenance (PCLF) increases significantly compared to Winter

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Summer points to note

• Table Mountain profile

• Constrained all day incl. from 6am - 10pm

• Air-conditioning, geysers & pool pumps

primarily impact demand

• Commercial, agricultural & residential customers

can make the biggest difference

Constrained all day

• Renewable independent power

producers peak at over 900 MW

(about 1 274 MW installed)

• As we move more into a flatter

profile, the renewables will

increasingly offset some of the

OCGT usage

• IPPs (wind & solar variability)

unavailable during evening peak

when demand is high

Impact of renewable generation on the system

17 September hourly Solar (PV) and Wind

Overlap of renewable generation

and OCGT for one week

The situation today has been

exaggerated by the generally cloudy

conditions across the entire country

which has reduced the supply from

solar plants by almost 500 MW

Sunday: No loss of additional MW and Majuba at 600MW output

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Keeping to scheduled hours at Palmiet and Drakensberg.

Date Time

Current Avail Cap (Incl Primary Constraints)

MW Expected to Return/Go Off

Forecast Shortfall/Surplus on

demand

02/11/2014 00:00 to 01:00 27440 0 22411 5029

02/11/2014 01:00 to 02:00 27440 0 22021 5419

02/11/2014 02:00 to 03:00 27440 0 21835 5605

02/11/2014 03:00 to 04:00 27440 0 21717 5723

02/11/2014 04:00 to 05:00 27440 0 21894 5546

02/11/2014 05:00 to 06:00 27440 0 22527 4913

02/11/2014 06:00 to 07:00 27890 0 23982 3908

02/11/2014 07:00 to 08:00 28590 0 25945 2645

02/11/2014 08:00 to 09:00 28590 0 27449 1141

02/11/2014 09:00 to 10:00 28590 0 27857 733

02/11/2014 10:00 to 11:00 28590 0 27699 891

02/11/2014 11:00 to 12:00 28590 0 27606 984

02/11/2014 12:00 to 13:00 28590 0 27407 1183

02/11/2014 13:00 to 14:00 28590 0 26817 1773

02/11/2014 14:00 to 15:00 28590 0 26181 2409

02/11/2014 15:00 to 16:00 28590 0 26011 2579

02/11/2014 16:00 to 17:00 28590 0 26155 2435

02/11/2014 17:00 to 18:00 28590 0 26674 1916

02/11/2014 18:00 to 19:00 28590 0 27902 688

02/11/2014 19:00 to 20:00 28790 0 29491 -701

02/11/2014 20:00 to 21:00 28590 0 28155 435

02/11/2014 21:00 to 22:00 28590 0 25785 2805

02/11/2014 22:00 to 23:00 27690 0 24036 3654 02/11/2014 23:00 to 00:00 27440 0 22690 4750

Monday: Units return as expected and Majuba at 600 MW output

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Keeping to scheduled hours at Palmiet and Drakensberg.

Date Time

Current Avail Cap (Incl Primary Constraints)

MW Expected to Return/Go Off

Forecast Shortfall/Surplus on

demand

03/11/2014 00:00 to 01:00 27440 679 22217 5902

03/11/2014 01:00 to 02:00 27440 1358 21921 6802

03/11/2014 02:00 to 03:00 27440 1358 21856 6867

03/11/2014 03:00 to 04:00 27440 1358 22265 6458

03/11/2014 04:00 to 05:00 27440 1451 23591 5132

03/11/2014 05:00 to 06:00 28590 1543 26898 2975

03/11/2014 06:00 to 07:00 28590 1543 28346 1527

03/11/2014 07:00 to 08:00 28590 1543 27931 1942

03/11/2014 08:00 to 09:00 28590 1543 28676 1197

03/11/2014 09:00 to 10:00 28590 1543 28835 1038

03/11/2014 10:00 to 11:00 29040 1543 29146 1177

03/11/2014 11:00 to 12:00 29040 1543 29057 1266

03/11/2014 12:00 to 13:00 29040 1543 29019 1304

03/11/2014 13:00 to 14:00 28840 1543 28820 1303

03/11/2014 14:00 to 15:00 29090 1543 28882 1491

03/11/2014 15:00 to 16:00 28590 1543 29382 491

03/11/2014 16:00 to 17:00 28590 1543 29621 252

03/11/2014 17:00 to 18:00 29240 1543 29878 905

03/11/2014 18:00 to 19:00 29990 1543 30868 665

03/11/2014 19:00 to 20:00 29990 1543 31317 216

03/11/2014 20:00 to 21:00 29990 1543 30157 1116

03/11/2014 21:00 to 22:00 28590 1543 27986 1887

03/11/2014 22:00 to 23:00 28590 1236 25914 3652

03/11/2014 23:00 to 00:00 27890 928 24569 3989

Outlook

1. Sunday

• Sunday shedding at Stage 2 will build up reserves for the week ahead

• The current projection is to keep load shedding Stage 2 to ensure significant recovery of the Peaking resources to ensure the impact of load shedding is less severe during the week

• Solar & wind currently sending out 160 MW and 90 MW respectively. Solar is normally up to 500 MW (cloudiness affecting it significantly). Majuba currently sending out about 600 MW (2 machines at half load)

2. Monday projection

• Generation Capacity at 31 500 MW for the day, provided we do not have any further breakdowns

• Demand forecast for evening peak (31 317 MW highest of the day)

• Risk of load shedding in particular between 18:00 – 20:00

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Outlook continued

3. The rest of the week

• If the capacity stays at the same level, we would have similar system status. With the extensive usage of the water resources it would mean by Wednesday we start to be constrained with water

• If the capacity is still at the same level we would need to consider Stage 1 load shedding possibly on Thursday (whole day) or as early as Wednesday evening ( 4 – 6 hours)

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How can consumers help?

• Saving electricity reduces pressure on the grid and cuts your electricity bill and South Africa’s carbon emissions

• The power system remains vulnerable all day up to 10pm

1. Switch off air-conditioning or use efficiently

- Set air-conditioning at 23 degrees

2. Switch off all geysers and pool pumps all day until 10pm

3. Switch off all non-essential lighting

4. Respond to the Power Alert messages by switching off all appliances that are not being used

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Introduction

Conclusion

Majuba power station incident

The system outlook and plan

Conclusion

• While the system is tight, this unplanned incident exacerbated the situation and it is very

likely that load shedding will continue for the week

• An investigation is already underway into the cause of the incident, but it appears that

this is an isolated incident specific to the coal infrastructure at Majuba.

• Mobile coal feeders are on-site and the team is optimistic that they can maintain half of

the total from the power station

• The Minister of DPE is being kept abreast of all developments. Eskom has also

informed all key stakeholders including the Department of Education and the national

disaster management centre to minimise the impact for matriculants and all

communities

• Eskom apologises to all electricity consumers but call on you yet again to switch off

unnecessary lights, the geyser, pool pump and air-conditioning

• Load shedding schedules are available on Eskom website, and municipal customers

should contact their municipalities for details

• We are painfully aware of the impact of this incident given the electricity supply situation

in the country

• We will continue to communicate via the media

Thank you

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