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Fuel leak causes fire at Eskom's Matla Power Station, Mpumalanga
A unit at Eskom's Matla Power Station in Mpumalanga suffered a fire incident on Wednesday afternoon, 11 December 2022, as a result of a fuel oil leak. According to sources at the power utility, spilled fuel oil ignited and started a fire at the power station's unit 6 boiler, resulting in damage to electrical cables at the 3 600MW plant. The fuel oil was isolated and a fire team extinguished the fire.
There appeared to be no structural damage, although the extent of the damage and the scope of work are still to be assessed. The incident comes as severe load shedding continues amid continued plant breakdowns. Load shedding has become a norm and all the power stations in the area, Kriel-, Matla- and Duvha Power Stations together with Camden and Majuba were crippled earlier this week. Eskom said a unit was taken offline at the power stations for repairs and maintenance. The generating units at Grootvlei, Camden, Kriel and Majuba have since returned to service. Only 6 618MW was available on Wednesday evening. Another 15 996 MW of capacity was unavailable due to breakdowns. Matla Power Station was also in the news earlier this month when a truck driver and his supervisor from a transport company subcontracted to haul coal to Eskom were arrested. The truck driver was allegedly found in possession of sub-grade coal destined for the facility. The truck driver admitted to offloading the ‘good-quality’ coal he had received from the nearby Arthur Taylor Colliery. He further alleged that he was acting on the instructions of his supervisor when he proceeded to the Rondebult coal yard to exchange the coal. Sources: News 24, Witbank News |
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