Commissioning Peer Review of Eskom new build projects successfully completed

South Africa is investing in its energy supply

With the help of three new build projects, the utility company Eskom has extended its installed capacity by almost 11 GW. Six 800 MW coal-fired blocks have been installed at both Medupi and Kusile and a pumped storage power plant, which will operate using four 333 MW turbines, has also been built at Ingula. The close long standing cooperation between VGB PowerTech and Eskom is continued in these projects. VGB teams have conducted a Commissioning Peer Review at the Medupi, Kusile and Ingula sites since April this year. The teams comprise experts from the VGB offices as well as some member companies and are selected depending on the type of power plant.

The subject of these reviews was the analysis of the schedules, the project structures, the human resources as well as the processes and sequencing in the area of commissioning. On this basis, the VGB experts could provide the Eskom site teams with assessments of the status quo. Equally important, they could provide improvement recommendations for future activities. Above and beyond the Commissioning Peer Reviews, the VGB supports the Medupi site team with regular feedback about construction progress. The first synchronization of the first unit is imminent. After the overcoming of many challenges, this is a very important milestone and provides momentum for upcoming tasks. The cooperation with Eskom will also be continued in the coming year.