Photo by: Reuters
Koeberg unit 2 will be shut down on Monday August 31 for scheduled refuelling and maintenance and is expected to return back to service by mid-December 2015, Eskom said late Monday afternoon.
The scheduled shutdown of Koeberg unit 2 is part of Eskom’s overall maintenance programme for its fleet of power stations. Every 14 to 18 months, each of the two units at Koeberg is shut down for refuelling, inspection and maintenance.
"The routine shutdowns are scheduled so as to avoid having both units out of service at the same time and to avoid the winter months in each year," Eskom said in a statement.
During these routine planned outages, one third of the used nuclear fuel is replaced with new fuel. Statutory inspections and maintenance is performed, and modifications, that will ensure that international safety standards continue to be met or that improve the plant performance, are implemented.
Koeberg unit 2 has been on stream without any interruption since its last refuelling outage which was completed in May 2014. Additionally, Koeberg unit 1 is currently operating optimally and is contributing 930 MW to the national grid.
"Medupi unit 6, which became fully operational last week, together with other units from Eskom’s fleet of 27 power stations, will continue to be used to meet the country’s electricity needs," said Eskom.
It called on all South Africans to continue using electricity sparingly in order to reduce the risk of load shedding.
"Businesses and households can make a difference by implementing saving measures in their processes and daily lives. Eskom implements load shedding as a last resort to protect the grid, shedding only what is required to balance demand and supply," said Eskom.
"We are implementing our maintenance plan to increase the reliability of our plant, which will in turn increase our operating reserves and stabilise the grid."