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Spill at Eskom Duvha Power Station results in fire at Unit 2, Mpumalanga
A fire broke out at Eskom Duvha's Unit 2 boiler in Mpumalanga shortly after 09h00 on Monday, 13 June 2022. Emergency services were dispatched after an emergency alarm was triggered by smoke, following the spill. According to an internal source there was an oil spill, which then resulted in the fire. The fire at Duvha unit 2 was quickly extinguished and no injuries have been reported.
Duvha Power Station is one of Eskom’s “six-pack” power plants, comprising six generating units. Each unit can produce up to 600MW, with Duvha having an installed capacity of 3 600MW. The Duvha Power Station was built in 1980 and became the first in the world to be fitted with pulse jet fabric filters on three of its six units in 1993. These remove 99,99 percent% of fly ash from the plant’s emissions, reducing the overall impact on the environment. Its two 300-metre chimneys are counted among the tallest structures in Africa. The reason for the fire and the extent of the damage caused to the unit which has been offline for a general overhaul is still being investigated by Eskom. Meanwhile, Eskom suffered another blow when the Glen Harvie substation which supplies power to the Rand West Municipality in Randfontein was vandalised compromising the capacity of power distribution at the weekend. Eskom Gauteng spokesperson Amanda Qithi said, “The substation protections, telecommunication equipment as well as the cables were vandalised creating a major risk to the security of supply. Vandalism of this substation compromised the integrity and reliability of distribution of electricity. The damages to the substation are extensive and require replacement of some of the equipment, as a result we are unable to give an estimated time of restoration.” Eskom was hard at work with the local municipality during the weekend trying to restore the power to all the municipality’s customers but only managed to restore power to some on Saturday while efforts continued on Sunday and although alternate solutions have been made for power supply, one area still remains without power.“ Qithi said, “The mine has agreed to temporarily supply all customers that are supplied from Glen Harvie. There is only one area that is still off due to cable theft.” Sources: IOL, Middelburg Observer |
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