In a major step toward completing one of South Africa's largest infrastructure projects, Eskom has announced the addition of Unit 6 of Kusile power station to the national grid.
The addition is a giant leap toward Eskom's goal of adding 2,500MW of new capacity by March 2025.
Over the weekend, Eskom stated that once fully operational, Kusile would provide 4,800MW to the grid, making it South Africa’s largest power project.
"Its sister station, Medupi, is set to return 800MW from Unit 4 April 2025," the statement read.
Both South Africa’s new build power station projects will then be essentially completed once Kusile Unit 6 is in commercial operation.
Mokwena noted that Kusile is also the first power station on the continent to use Wet Flue Gas Desulphurisation (WFGD) technology, reducing sulphur dioxide emissions and meeting global air quality standards.
"Eskom is at a critical point returning megawatts to the grid as we are currently in a constrained state. This milestone is a testament to the unwavering dedication and resilience of Eskom’s employees and contractors.
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"Their commitment has driven us forward despite numerous challenges. As we celebrate this progress, our focus is now on ensuring that Unit 6 achieves commercial operation in the second half of 2025, further strengthening South Africa’s energy security," added Eskom Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo.
Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, said the addition of Kusile's Unit 6 shows the continued progress by the electricity supplier to stabilise and strengthen the country's supply.
"Meeting the targets we set in the Generation Recovery Plan and our strategic roadmap underscores our determination to deliver new capacity, enhance generation performance, support economic growth, and ultimately deliver a more sustainable energy future. We reiterate our commitment to ensuring that South Africa is in no way returning to the levels of load shedding that we experienced in 2023 and, our focus remains on delivering a more reliable, resilient, and sustainable power system for the country," Marokane said.
He added that over the next six months, Unit 6 will undergo extensive tests and optimisation before reaching commercial operation when its 800MW capacity will officially be added to Eskom's generation fleet.