Koeberg's unit 2 up to 87%
Johannesburg - Power levels on the second unit of the Koeberg nuclear power plant in Cape Town have been increased with the unit now generating power at 87%, Eskom said on Monday.
The unit would continue to generate power at 87% or 780 MW for the next 24 hours, said spokesman Fani Zulu.
"Once the required tests and inspections have been satisfactorily completed, the power will be increased to 100%," said Zulu.
Generator problems encountered at units 1 and 2 on December 25 resulted in power outages in the Western Cape.
In February, there were further blackouts due to high pollution levels, misty conditions and multiple line faults.
Zulu said Unit 1 was now generating full power at 900 MW.
The two units combined were currently supplying more than 1 680 MW of electricity to Cape Town.
Eskom's managing director for transmission, Jacob Maroga, said the station was generating sufficient energy to meet the requirements of the Western Cape.
He said further load shedding would not be required as consumers had heeded Eskom's call to conserve electricity.
"Load shedding, which would definitely have been the norm if the public and business did not heed the call to save, has not been necessary in the Western Cape since 22 June 2006."
He warned, however, that the era of excess electricity capacity was unfortunately over.
"Energy, and thus electricity, is a resource which we need to use efficiently and appropriately and we appeal to all consumers to continue to use electricity responsibly," said Maroga.
News source: www.news24.co.za
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