Electricity producer Eskom has, for the first time, offered a detailed timeline for the synchronisation of Medupi Unit 6, which is officially scheduled for December 15, 2014.

Addressing a joint meeting of the Portfolio Committees on Public Enterprises and Energy on Tuesday, interim CEO Collin Matjila said boiler repair work has been completed on the unit, while actions had been taken to address the risk to the schedule arising from contractor delays with regards to the boiler protection system.

He then went on to inform the meeting, which was attended by both Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown and Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, of the steps that would be taken to ensure first synchronisation in December.

The next milestone would be September 6, when the control and instrumentation systems that manage the plant responsible for keeping the boiler operational, including the boiler feed pumps, water treatment plant, coal conveyors, coal mills, ash-handling equipment and draught groups, would be tested.

On September 9, the first fires in the boiler will be started using bulk fuel oil to test the burners and to raise the temperature of the water in the boiler and to help combust pulverised fuel.

The first coal fires are scheduled for September 11, when pulverised fuel will be introduced into the boilers while the oil fires are present to test the coal-handling, coal-mills and burner systems.

The ‘blow through’, which is performed after the first coal fires, to ensure that the water circuit is cleaned of debris that could damage the turbine, is scheduled for September 26. The blow through involves steam being expressed through the boiler at high temperatures and pressures.

On December 1, the ‘steam to set’ will be performed, which will be the first time the turbine is rotated using steam from the boiler and operated at 3 000 revs/min. Then on December 15, first synchronisation is planned, which is an operation designed to ensure that the electricity generated is in phase with the grid.

Eskom expects it to take about six months for the unit to be ramped up to full commercial operations.

Matjila also reported that first unit synchronisation of Kusile Unit 1 is scheduled for December 2015.