Koeberg Nuclear Power Station's Unit 1 return postponed: what it means for South Africa's energy
Image: Supplied
Eskom announced that Unit 1 at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, South Africa's only nuclear facility located in Cape Town, that is supposed to return to service this month, has been pushed back to the end of next month.
Currently offline for the second phase of its long-term operational maintenance programme, Unit 1 was initially expected to return to service by July 2025.
Eskom said this adjustment reflects their "unwavering commitment to thorough inspections and maintaining the highest quality standards to ensure the safety and reliability of the facility".
As part of the scheduled maintenance, detailed eddy current inspections — an essential non-destructive testing method—revealed defects in four tubes across two of the newly installed steam generators. Eskom said it acted promptly, deploying an advanced automated process to rectify the identified issues, with specialised international teams working in tandem with local experts to ensure the repairs met global safety and quality standards.
"The successful completion of these critical repairs marks a significant milestone in reinforcing the safety framework at Koeberg."
In addition to the tube repairs, the maintenance activities included the legally mandated 10-year Integrated Leak Rate Test (ILRT).
"During this rigorous test, the reactor building was pressurised over a continuous 72-hour period, carefully monitoring its leak rate and structural integrity. The results from the ILRT confirmed the robustness of Unit 1's containment structure, thereby aligning with international safety protocols."
Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom's Group Executive for Generation, emphasized the importance of prioritising safety at Koeberg.
'Our top priority is always the safety of our employees, the public and the environment. Carrying out these additional inspections and repairs to world-class standards, we are investing in the long-term reliability of Koeberg and South Africa's energy future,' he said.
Nxumalo reiterated that the maintenance of Unit 1 is vital for delivering decades of affordable, low-carbon power, advocating how nuclear energy contributes to economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Eskom is concurrently progressing on other generation projects, including the recently synchronised 800MW Kusile Unit 6, which is expected to enter commercial operation by September 2025.
"This year has already seen the reconnection of Kusile Units 1, 2, and 3 to the repaired west stack, as well as the return to service of Medupi Unit 4 after a prolonged outage. Together, these initiatives are aimed at bolstering generation capacity and securing a stable electricity supply."
Eskom said the revised return date for Koeberg Unit 1 is not anticipated to increase the risk of loadshedding.
"The latest Winter Outlook released in May remains valid, indicating that the planned return of 2,500MW this winter is unaffected by the status of Unit 1. The report shows that loadshedding will not be necessary as long as unplanned outages stay below 13,000MW. Even with potential increases in outages, Eskom has projected a maximum of 21 days of loadshedding during the winter season, capped at Stage 2.
As the winter season progresses, Eskom continues to encourage energy efficiency among customers while assuring them of the national power system's stability. Unit 2 of Koeberg remains operational, currently contributing up to 946MW and recording an impressive Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 99.98% as of the end of June 2023.
Once all maintenance work is completed, Unit 1's reactor core will undergo refuelling, testing, and will be synchronised back to the national grid. Eskom said it meticulously plans these outages to ensure that both Koeberg units are not offline simultaneously, maintaining an essential power supply for the country.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
14 hours ago
- IOL News
Eskom admits to challenges in meeting 2030 emissions targets
Cooling towers at an Eskom coal-based power station in Duhva. Eskom's head of generation Bheki Nxumalo on Wednesday revealed that the utility's existing power stations may struggle to meet the crucial emissions standards due to insufficient technology designed to curb nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx). Image: Mike Hutchings/Reuters South Africa's power utility, Eskom, has openly acknowledged significant hurdles in achieving the ambitious decommissioning targets set for the Just Energy Transition (JET) by 2030. During a presentation to Parliament on Wednesday, Eskom's head of generation Bheki Nxumalo revealed that the utility's existing power stations may struggle to meet the crucial emissions standards due to insufficient technology designed to curb nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx). "The emissions standards post-2030 call for reduction much more aggressively. That's where the risks are because stations have different technologies. We are now on a drive for emissions abatement technologies post-2030 but its not all of them that will be ready, including Medupi," Nxumalo said in response to questions from MK Party MP, Brian Molefe. "Kusile will meet most of the requirements but it is going to be an issue to comply with that. Most will but the "NOx and SOx" will require more in refurbishment." Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Nxumalo said Eskom was doing economic studies on its overall Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) strategy from exemptions granted by the Department of Fisheries and Forestries and Environment (DFFE), not only for Kusile and Medupi's compliance, with stricter emission standards. "We are preparing to go to market but also considering the number of units. We are not going to do all of them by 2030, implementation will go post-2030," Nxumalo said. "We are not only looking at Medupi for reduction of the carbon footprint and also the NOx and SOx across the fleet. The research team is busy at work looking at other means we can employ in units running post-2030." Eskom Group Executive for Renewables, Rivoningo Mnisi, said the power utility had made a breakthrough in other global entities taking over the slack left by the US withdrawing its more than $1.5 billion commitments to South Africa's JET programme. "Dynamics and changes from the US have changed how we traditionally view funding, but it comes with opportunities. What we noticed is that the clean energy initiatives need to make business sense," Mnisi said. "We have had engagements with the World Bank that sourced funding from various funders. They are quite aware of our 5-year projects and are quite keen and confident to support the funding requirement. "We have also engaged with others [such as] the French Union. There is an appetite to partner. There is also interest from the Chinese funders interested in this. It's key how we go to market on this. We are working on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, which should be structured to allow us offtake and show how projects will make money and what our contribution from the balance sheet will be. "There is no shortage of funding to support the clean energy initiatives. What's more important is the governance structures to allow the PPP participation and the funding model to take place." As part of its strategy, Eskom is considering blended financing to avoid restrictions from single funders that could conflict with its operational needs. "We are in the process of shortlisting the supplier for the 72MW solar PV, while on the 150MW of gas the contract award is imminent and should be done potentially in the next two months," Mnisi said. "We are also doing some assessment of the long duration energy storage as part of the options we can implement at Komati, as well Grootvlei solar PV and gas on plan. They should be delivered by 2029, a shift from what we did at Komati Development. Work for Arnot, Camden and Hendrina is also started and the intention is to ensure that all projects are implemented and operational before 2030." BUSINESS REPORT
The Star
21 hours ago
- The Star
Eskom dismisses false claims of imminent load shedding in July
Siyabonga Sithole | Published 2 weeks ago Eskom has strongly rejected false claims circulating online about imminent stage 4 and stage 6 loadshedding from 6 July until 20 July with the power utility saying the country's power system remains stable with loadshedding suspended since 10pm 15 May 2025. " The Winter Outlook, published on 5 May 2025, covering the period ending 31 August 2025, remains valid. It indicates that loadshedding will not be necessary if unplanned outages stay below 13 000MW. If outages rise to 15 000MW, loadshedding would be limited to a maximum of 21 days out of 153 days and restricted to Stage 2. There are no planned outages of this scale. Misinformation causes unnecessary alarm. Stay informed—trust only official Eskom updates on our official platforms," the power utility said. This past week, electricity and energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said municipalities with a combined debt of over R100 billion have not been able to reduce the amounts they owe to Eskom. The minister added that the ongoing challenges could result in the total collapse of the South African electricity complex. The minister described Eskom's challenge of supplying electricity but being unable to collect revenue as an 'existential problem'. 'They are spending money they must collect from the bulk consumer, and where they are reticulating. They are finding it difficult to collect, so they're unable to reinvest back into their asset base. It's going to result in, if not managed, a total collapse of the electricity complex in the country," Ramokgopa said. On Friday, Eskom revealed that despite the high unplanned outages and severe weather conditions in parts of South Africa, the available generation capacity was enough to meet peak demand. The power utility also revealed that for the week of 20 to 26 June 2025, unplanned outages averaged 14 696MW, exceeding last year's figure by 2 815MW and the base case estimate of 13 000MW by 1 696MW. It said the increase was largely due to Medupi Unit 4, which has been offline since August 2021 and was scheduled to return on 30 May 2025. The delay in its return was factored into the unplanned outage calculations from 1 June 2025, adding 800MW. Year-to-date, average unplanned outages stand at 14 031MW. [email protected]
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
SMEs need to brace for reduced orders due to a 30% US tariff
The 30% tariff hike's impact will result in small profit margins, a risk of having to retrench employees, and slower business growth with fewer US sales. As of August 1, a 30% tariff on goods exported to the United States (US) will take effect, placing immense pressure on businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The automotive sector will be impacted severely by the 30% tariff hike, as the US is a significant export market for cars and car parts. Lula, an SME services provider, stated that businesses supplying parts, logistics, and services to these large manufacturers must brace for reduced orders, intense pressure on pricing, and therefore a significant loss of competitiveness against other exporters to the US, such as Brazil and China, which face only 10% tariffs. ALSO READ: US tariff of 30% on SA exports: where to now? Tariff hike to threaten job security Thomas McKinnon, Chief Growth Officer at Lula, added that the 30% tariff hike's impact will be felt more acutely and quickly by SMEs, as it will result in small profit margins, a risk of having to retrench employees, and slower business growth with fewer US sales. He highlighted that the agricultural and textile sectors, which have relied on the duty-free access provided by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), are now left vulnerable. 'The tariff effectively neutralises the benefits of Agoa, jeopardising the livelihoods of thousands, particularly in rural communities that depend on exports of citrus, wine, and speciality textiles.' How can businesses survive with the tariff hike? McKinnon advises SMEs in these industries to shift their focus to reinforcing their unique value proposition while exploring new and emerging markets to absorb the capacity previously destined for the US. 'If your product offers exceptional quality, niche appeal, or a distinct competitive advantage, demand might persist even with higher tariffs.' ALSO READ: Ordinary South Africans will feel impact of US tariffs He added that from now on, every cent counts and businesses need to look for any big or small ways in which they can streamline operations, reduce waste, and negotiate better terms with suppliers. 'The tariffs will have a knock-on effect that we will more than likely see across the board, and SMEs need to be ready and prepared.' Can businesses survive? He said it is essential for businesses to recognise that most people are already financially strained. For instance, South Africans are paying significantly more for electricity after the Eskom tariff hike took effect. Therefore, for businesses to survive, they might need to absorb a portion of these tariff costs to remain competitive, making internal cost-cutting essential for maintaining margins. 'Consider short-term funding options to bridge any potential cash flow gaps during this transition period. Having agile financial solutions in place can provide a crucial buffer as SMEs adapt to the new economic landscape.' NOW READ: Trump's new 30% tariff less about trade and more about power
