Komati Power Station

Komati Power Station
Komati Power Station
	Location of Komati Power Station in South Africa
Country	South Africa
Location	Mpumalanga
Coordinates	26°05′24″S 29°28′19″E / 26.09000°S 29.47194°E
Status	Decommissioned
Commission date	1961
Decommission date	2022
Construction cost	80 million R (1966);
Owner	Eskom
	Eskom;
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal;
Power generation
Units operational	9
Units planned	5 × 100 MW; 4 × 125 MW
Nameplate capacity	1,000 Megawatt
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
	[edit on Wikidata]

Komati Power Station, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom. Its 300 metre tall chimney was built in 1979, and is one of the tallest structures in the country. Komati is one of power stations with a common steam range, meaning that its nine boilers jointly feed the nine generators. Other stations are Tutuka Power Station and Matimba Power Station.

History

The first unit was commissioned in 1961 and the last in 1966. In 1988, three units at Komati were mothballed, one was kept in reserve and the other five were only operated during peak hours. In 1990, the complete station was mothballed until 2008 when the unit 9 was the first to be recommissioned under Eskom's return-to-service project. The full station was put online in 2011.^[1]

It was finally decommissioned on 31 October 2022. The decommissioning was supported by the World Bank as part of the Eskom Just Energy Transition Project, alongside a package of international support for decarbonization in South Africa known as the South Africa Just Energy Transition Investment Plan.^[2]

Power generation

The station consists of a total of 9 units having five 100MW units on the East (1-5) and four 125MW units on the West (6-9) with a total installed capacity of 1,000MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 30.00%.