New turbines for Koeberg
The Koeberg nuclear power plant in South Africa will gain 65 MWe in output after steam turbine retrofits, according to supplier Alstom which will carry out the work.
The Koeberg nuclear power plant in South Africa will gain 65 MWe in output after steam turbine improvements, according to supplier Alstom.
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Koeberg (Image: Eskom) |
The French engineering group announced the €125 million ($161 million) contract today, which will see new low-pressure turbines fitted at each power unit with this work carried out during a scheduled refuelling outage.
Besides the 3.5% boost in generating capacity, the power plant will gain in stability and reliability while increasing its working life. At present, the first unit at Koeberg is shut down for maintenance and refuelling, indicating that turbine imnprovement could be carried out during the next refuelling stop in about 18 months' time.
Power plant operators schedule inspections and maintenance programs to coincide with refuelling, which on its own takes about one month. The length of the current outage at Koeberg, which started at the end of January and is expected to last until May, indicates that more major maintenance is currently underway.
The two 920 MWe reactors at Koeberg began operation in 1984 and 1985. The only power reactors in Africa, they provide 6% of South Africa's needs. The plant's owner is the public company Eskom, which has struggled in recent years to keep up with demand as electrification programs reached new neighbourhoods and power use increased alongside wealth.
Nuclear power was part of Eskom's medium term plan and the company invited bids for up to 20,000 MWe of new nuclear build to take nuclear's contribution to national power needs to 25%. These plans, however, were put on hold in December last year amid financial and political turmoil.
