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Eskom is pleased to announce that first power was produced out of Medupi’s Unit 6 today at 11h03, making it the first of Medupi power station’s six units to be synchronised.

Synchronisation, or first power, is the process whereby the generator in the unit is electrically connected to the national power grid, in such a way that its power is perfectly aligned with all the other generators to generate and deliver electricity into the national power grid.

According to Mr Tshediso Matona, Eskom’s Chief Executive, this is the final stage marking an exciting milestone towards full commercial power. “Today, we celebrate the achievement with Team Medupi.

The electricity flowing into the grid marks a new beginning. Within the next three months, South Africa will see Medupi unit 6’s full potential of 794MW being fed into the South African national grid. I congratulate Team Medupi, for their efforts in achieving this important milestone for South Africa.”

In anticipation of commercial operation, a power station manager has been appointed. The past six years has been spent training and developing a core set of people who will operate the cutting edge technology that makes this power station unique in the world.

“Approximately 350 men and women are waiting to join the force of South Africans making history when the unit gets operational. While Unit 6 is the first of Medupi’s six units, it should be noted that all required auxiliary services for the entire power station are ready to ensure that Medupi’s total output of 4 764MW is fully synchronised to the South African power grid,” Mr Matona added.

Minister of Public Enterprises, Ms. Lynne Brown said: “The synchronisation of Unit 6 at Medupi Power station is a step towards full power generation (794MW) and therefore, a step closer to alleviating some of the energy challenges currently faced by South Africa. This will contribute significantly to South Africa’s and the region’s economy in the long run.”

“We recognise that this is only the beginning, but I am confident that achieving this significant milestone will sustain the dedication and commitment of the Eskom team as they work towards the completion of the project,” Minister Brown concluded.

Issued by ESKOM