Johannesburg: Unit 6 of Eskom’s Kusile Power Station has been successfully added to the national grid. Eskom announced that the final unit at the Mpumalanga-based power station was successfully added to the national grid on Sunday at 4:45 pm. This achievement marks a crucial step toward completing one of South Africa’s largest infrastructure projects and is a key milestone in Eskom’s strategic objective of adding 2,500MW of new capacity to the grid by March 2025.
According to South African Government News Agency, once all units are fully operational, the Kusile Power Station will contribute 4,800MW to the national grid, making it South Africa’s largest infrastructure project. Meanwhile, its sister project, the Medupi Power Station, will see its Unit 4 return 800MW by the end of April 2025 after an extended outage caused by a generator stator failure and the completion of the project. Both South Africa’s new build power station projects will then be essentially completed once Kusile Unit 6 is in commercial operation.
Kusile is the first power station in South Africa and Africa to implement wet flue gas desulfurisation (WFGD) technology. This approach ensures compliance with air quality standards and aligns with global best practices for reducing sulfur dioxide emissions.
Eskom Group Executive for Generation, Bheki Nxumalo, said the utility is at a critical point in returning megawatts to the grid as the country is currently in a constrained state. This milestone is a testament to the dedication and resilience of Eskom’s employees and contractors. Their commitment has driven progress despite challenges. As progress is celebrated, the focus is now on ensuring that Unit 6 achieves commercial operation in the second half of 2025, further strengthening South Africa’s energy security.
Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane reiterated Nxumalo’s view that the addition of Kusile Unit 6 demonstrates ongoing progress in stabilising and strengthening South Africa’s electricity supply. Meeting targets set in the Generation Recovery Plan and the strategic roadmap underscores determination to deliver new capacity, enhance generation performance, support economic growth, and deliver a more sustainable energy future. The commitment to ensuring that South Africa does not return to the levels of load shedding experienced in 2023 remains, with a focus on delivering a more reliable, resilient, and sustainable power system for the country.
Over the next six months, Eskom said the unit will undergo extensive testing and optimisation before reaching commercial operation when its 800MW capacity will be officially added to the Eskom generation fleet. With this latest milestone, Eskom stated that it remains committed to implementing the Generation Operational Recovery Plan, strengthening governance, and future-proofing the organisation. This is to ensure energy security, growth, and long-term sustainability for the benefit of South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.