Loadshedding lifted for now but concerns over out-of-action Koeberg

Eskom was able to suspend loadshedding on Sunday morning after two units at the Kusile power station were returned to service, but technical work is ongoing at the Koeberg nuclear power station.

The enforced rotational power cuts were implemented from Friday after the electricity utility said it had lost 2,700MW of capacity over 14 hours. This included Koeberg unit 2, which Eskom said was taken offline after being brought back on Wednesday, and two Kusile units whose coal operations were suboptimal after adverse weather in the area.

Over the weekend, Eskom said it had been able to recover more than 3,000MW of generation capacity and had replenished sufficient emergency reserves over the previous 44 hours.

“Coal operations at Kusile power station are at optimal levels. All units that were offline as of Friday are now back in service. Progress on the recovery of Koeberg unit 2 is well under way. Eskom reassures the public that Koeberg unit 2 remains safe.”

Energy expert Anton Eberhard had questioned the stability of the grid before the latest bout of loadshedding, asking why Koeberg’s unit 2 has been offline since March 2 despite undergoing refurbishment.

“Koeberg nuclear unit 2 was off for nearly a year undergoing a major refurbishment. Yet here again it’s tripping and tripping again. Definitely not reliable,” Eberhard cautioned.

Fellow expert Chris Yelland was in search of answers. He shared on X: “Koeberg unit 2 shut down inadvertently at 9.26am on Sunday March 2, leaving the whole of Koeberg nuclear power station (both units 1 and 2) offline. Eskom said unit 2 would be up again in 48 hours.”

When he asked Eskom when unit 2 could again begin delivering power to the grid at full load, and if not, why it was taking so long and when this could be expected, he said he was only advised that Koeberg unit 2 did come back on but was taken off again. “Awaiting answers…” he wrote. 

“The Koeberg nuclear power generator units are demonstrably and objectively intermittent,” Yelland said.

In its latest advisory, Eskom said: “We maintain that load-shedding is largely behind us due to structural improvements in the generation fleet. While baseload capacity remains constrained, our generation recovery plan is addressing this challenge. The dedicated efforts of our highly skilled staff remain unwavering.”

Its team is working to restore 4,091MW back to service by Monday.

“Planned maintenance outages aimed at preparing for winter and meeting regulatory and environmental licensing requirements are continuing.”

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