Name and Location
Kusile power plant project, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Client
State-owned power utility Eskom.

Project Description
The Kusile power station project, near the existing Kendal power station, in the Nkangala district of Mpumalanga, will comprise six units, each rated at an 800 MW installed capacity for a total capacity of 4 800 MW. Once completed, Kusile will be the fourth-largest coal-fired power station in the world.

The Kusile project will include a power station precinct, power station buildings, administrative buildings (control buildings and buildings for medical and security purposes), roads and a high-voltage yard.

The associated infrastructure will include a coal stockyard, coal and ash conveyors, temporary and permanent water-supply pipelines, temporary electricity supply during construction, water and wastewater treatment facilities, ash disposal systems, a railway line, limestone offloading facilities, access roads (including haul roads) and dams for water storage, as well as a railway siding and a railway line on which to transport the limestone supply (sorbent).

The power station will be the first in South Africa to install flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) – a state-of-the-art technology used to remove oxides of sulphur, such as sulphur dioxide, from exhaust flue gases in power plants that burn coal or oil. This technology is fitted as an atmospheric emission abatement technology, in line with current international practice, to ensure compliance with air-quality standards, especially since the power station is located in a priority air shed area.

The FGD plant is a totally integrated chemical plant using limestone as feedstock and producing gypsum as a by-product. Each supercritical tower boiler will be about 115 m high. The air-cooled condensers will be constructed on and supported by twenty 60-m-high concrete columns.

The plant will use an air-cooling system to help conserve water. A total of 16 000 t of structural steel was used for the first unit’s boiler construction and it is expected that 115 400 t of structural steel will be used for all six units and the balance of plant (BoP).

The operational life of the power station is expected to be 60 years. The estimated cabling to be installed for each Kusile unit is 5 300 km.

The bulk of the coal will be sourced from mine mouths in the local area, with further exploration continuing.

Value
Costs at the January 31, 2015, inception date were R82-billion, excluding interest during construction.

Total cost is estimated at R118.5-billion, excluding interest during construction, the cost of cover and inflation.

Duration
Eskom has indicated that the first synchronisation of Kusile Unit 1 is now scheduled for the first half of 2017, with the 800 MW unit expected to enter commercial operations only in the second half of 2017.

Latest Developments
Work is progressing at the Kusile project.

Kusile’s Unit 1 boiler was, on January 11, registered with the Department of Labour. The boiler must be registered before energy can be applied to it and is required for the start of first fire. With the the first boiler registered, Eskom can prepare for the boiler to generate steam.

Further, factory acceptance tests of the BoP and Unit 1 at Kusile have been completed successfully as part of ABB South Africa’s execution of the control and instrumentation (C&I) project at the station, with the group on schedule to complete the automation for the first 800 MW generating unit.

As part of the order, ABB is supplying the control system, software and instrumentation solution for the six of the station’s generating units, which will supply power to the entire country.

The solution also includes unit and BoP automation, field instrumentation, cabling, boiler protection and plant simulator engineering, installation, commissioning, optimisation and training.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Eskom, in partnership with Black & Veatch International (project management and engineering services); Ninham Shand Consulting Services (environmental-impact assessment, geotechnical investigation and traffic impact); AirShed Planning Professionals (air-quality impact); Jongens Keet Associates (noise impact); Strategic Environmental Focus, or SEF (visual impacts); Makecha Development Association (impacts on terrestrial fauna and flora); Golder Associates, through Ecosun (aquatic-ecosystem impact); Groundwater Consulting Services (groundwater impact); Ilitha Riscom (risk assessment); Northern Flagship Institution (archaeological impact); University of the Free State (impacts on agricultural potential); Urban-Econ (socioeconomic impacts); Seaton Thomson & Associates (planning implications); Mark Wood Environmental Consultants (process review); Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa, or MHPSA, a subsidiary of Hitachi Power Europe, or HPE (boiler contract); Actom, formerly Alstom S&E Africa (main turbine area); ABB SA(C&I, including supply of medium voltage switchgear and associated equipment); Mikropul, subcontracted by Alstom (axial-flow fans and auxiliary equipment for the turbine halls' ventilation); Murray & Roberts, or M&R (boiler construction contract); Roshcon, a subsidiary of Eskom (enabling civils, terracing construction and site services); Concrete Finishing Equipment (dust filters, and silo and environmental safety); the Kusile Civil Works, or KCW, Joint Venture (JV), comprising Stefanutti Stocks, Basil Read, Group Five and WBHO Construction (main civil works); Siemens (generator transformers and electrical and auxiliary power); EsorFranki Geotechnical, formerly Franki Africa and Stefanutti Stocks Geotechnical JV, under a subcontract to the KCW JV (piling works for the turbine, boiler and air-cooled condensers); Concor Karrena JV (construction of chimney shells/structures); Tubular (engineering, supply and installation of FGD system); DSE Structural Engineers & Contractors, subcontracted by Genrec Engineering (fabrication of steel columns for boilers 1 to 3); Steel Services Direct, or SSD (steel, pipes and wax plants); GB Bearings (supplier of HSR horizontal bearing assemblies and profile bore bearings); Sulzer Pumps South Africa, subcontracted by Actom (supply of booster and boiler feed pumps); Steloy Castings, subcontracted by Sulzer Pumps South Africa (supply of chrome steel components for the pumps); Clyde Bergemann Power Group, subcontracted by MHPSA (supplier of sootblowers for boilers); Clyde Bergemann Africa (fly ash handling system); PD Naidoo & Associates, or PDNA, Industrial Projects (main water and wastewater treatment contractor); GE Water Engineered Systems, subcontracted by PDNA Industrial Projects (advanced water and wastewater treatment equipment); Bateman Africa (coal stockyard and terrace materials handling systems); Lesedi Nuclear Services (procurement and supply of the balance of plant equipment); Grinaker-LTA Metals and Minerals (supply and erection of piping, steelwork and free-issue chemicals); US Export-Import Bank, or Ex-Im Bank (loan finance); TBD (railroad construction and combustion water terrace construction phases 1 and 2); Zest WEG Group (auxiliary transformers); Aberdare Cables, a Powertech company within the JSE-listed Altron Group (cables); Konecranes (heavy-duty cranes); Energy Engineered Products (supply of valves) and Turnmill Proquip Engineering (material for boiler ducting).

On Budget and on Time?
The project has had massive delays and its completion date has been postponed from 2017 to 2021.

Contact Details for Project Information
Eskom media desk, tel +27 11 800 3304/3343/3378, cell +27 82 805 7278, fax +27 86 664 7699 or email mediadesk@eskom.co.za.
Kusile power station communication department – media relations, tel +27 13 699 7405/ 7377 or email kusilelimelight@eskom.co.za.
ABB SA senior communications manager Natasha Mpela, tel +27 10 202 6156 or email natasha.mpela@za.abb.com.
Actom, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.
AirShed Planning Professionals, tel +27 11 805 1940, fax +27 11 805 7010 or email mail@airshed.co.za.
Alstom press, tel +33 1 41 49 2982/3308.
Basil Read investor relations, tel +27 11 418 6375 or fax +27 11 418 6334.
Bateman Africa, tel +27 11 899 9000, fax +27 11 899 4903 or email enquiries-africa@batemanengineering.com.
Bateman Engineered Technologies, tel +27 11 201 2300 or email enquiries@bateman-bet.com.
Black & Veatch media relations and communications, tel +1 913 458 8001 or email Mediainfo@bv.com.
Clyde Bergemann Africa, tel +27 11 704 0580, fax +27 11 704 0597 or email enquiry@cbz.co.za.
Clyde Bergemann Power Group, tel +49 281 815 101, fax +49 281 815 184 or email info@clydebergemannpowergroup.com.
Concrete Finishing Equipment, tel +27 82 788 8265.
DSE Structural Engineers & Contractors, tel +27 11 871 4111, fax +27 11 871 4141 or email dse@grinaker-lta.co.za.
EsorFranki, tel +27 11 771 3906.
Ex-Im Bank, tel +1 202 565 3200.
GB Bearings, tel +27 11 974 1291 or fax +27 11 974 1468.
GE global communications, tel +1 215 942 3409.
Golder Associates, tel +27 12 366 0100 or fax +27 12 366 0111.
Grinaker-LTA Metals and Minerals, tel +27 11 681 2200 or fax +27 11 681 1810.
Group Five, tel +27 11 806 0111.
Hansen Transmissions, tel +27 11 571 9611.
MHPSA head of sales and business development David Milner, tel +27 11 260 4300, fax +27 11 656 3609 or email info@za.mhps.com.
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Europe, tel +49 203 80 38 0 or fax +49 203 80 38 1809.
Jongens Keet Associates, fax +27 21 794 5643 or email jongens@yebo.co.za.
Lesedi Nuclear Services, tel +27 21 525 1300 or fax +27 21 525 1333.
Mikropul, tel +27 478 0456, fax +27 478 0371 or email sales@mikropul.co.za.
M&R group communications executive Ed Jardim, tel +27 11 456 6200, fax +27 11 455 1322 or email eduard.jardim@murrob.com.
Ninham Shand Consulting Services, tel +27 21 481 2400 or fax +27 21 424 5588.
Northern Flagship Institution, tel +27 12 322 7632 or fax +27 12 322 5560.
PDNA Industrial Projects, tel +27 11 566 8300, fax +27 11 566 8600 or email johannesburg@pdna.co.za.
Roshcon, tel +27 11 629 8000 or fax +27 11 626 3460.
Seaton Thomson & Associates, tel +27 12 667 2107, cell +27 82 920 6115, fax +27 12 667 2109 or email seaton@yebo.co.za.
SEF, tel +27 12 349 1307 or fax +27 12 349 1229.
SSD, tel +27 11 828 0439 or fax +27 11 828 2810.
Stefanutti Stocks Civils, tel +27 11 571 4300.
Stefanutti Stocks Geotechnical, tel +27 11 571 4300, fax +27 11 393 3150 or email geotech@stefstocks.com.
Steloy Castings, tel +27 13 933 3331, fax +27 13 933 3653 or email info@steloy.com.
Sulzer Pumps South Africa, tel +27 11 820 6252 or fax +27 11 820 6205.
Tubular, tel +27 11 553 2000, fax +27 11 450 2160 or email th@tubular.co.za.
Urban Econ, tel +27 13 752 4932, fax +27 13 752 4952 or email nelspruit@urban-econ.com.
University of the Free State, tel +27 51 401 2707.
WBHO Construction, tel +27 11 321 7200, fax +27 11 887 4364 or email wbhoho@wbho.co.za.
Konecranes, tel +27 11 864 2800.
Aberdare Cables, tel +27 11 396 8000 or fax +27 11 396 8010.
Zest WEG Group, tel +27 11 827 3458/9 or email info@wegtransformersafrica.co.za.
Energy Engineered Products, tel  +27 11 466 1926 or fax +27 11 466 1692.
Turnmill Proquip Engineering, tel +27 16 986 0030 or fax +27 16 986 0127.