Kriel Power Station in
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, is a
coal-fired power plant
A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate a ...
operated by
Eskom
Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...
. It is located about 4 km from
Matla Power Station
Matla Power Station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom and consuming the output from the Matla coal mine.
History
Construction started in 1974, and the last unit was commissioned in July 1983. In 1981, t ...
just outside the town of
Kriel Kriel is an Afrikaans surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Anneline Kriel, South African model and actress
*Ashley Kriel (1966–1987), South African activist
* Hernus Kriel (1941–2015), first Premier of the Western Cape province
* ...
(
Emalahleni Local Municipality, Mpumalanga
Emalahleni Municipality (; ; ) is a local municipality within the Nkangala District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. ''eMalahleni'' is a Nguni word meaning ''place of coal''.
Main places
The 2001 census divided the mun ...
).
In contrast with most other Eskom power stations, the turbine generators at Kriel are each housed in a separate building rather than the more common single turbine hall.
When Kriel was completed in 1979 it was the largest
coal-fired power station
A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...
in the
Southern Hemisphere. It was also one of the first stations to be supplied with coal from a fully mechanised coal mine.
History
On 25 July 2022, the entire power station tripped. Eskom said the first fault caused units 1, 2 and 3 of the power station to trip, while the second fault tripped units 4 and 5. Unit 6 was already offline.
Power generation
The station has six 500MW units for a total installed capacity of 3,000MW with turbine
Maximum Continuous Rating
In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, the power rating of equipment is the highest power input allowed to flow through particular equipment. According to the particular discipline, the term ''power'' may refer to electrical or ...
at 36.90%.
See also
*
Fossil-fuel power plant
A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station that burns fossil fuel, such as coal, oil, or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machines that convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energ ...
*
List of power stations in South Africa
South Africa produced around 245,000 GWh of electricity in 2021. Most of this electricity is produced using coal and is consumed domestically. In 2022, 12,300 GWh were exported to Eswatini, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbab ...
References
External links
Kriel Power Stationon the Eskom website
{{National Key Points navbox
Coal-fired power stations in South Africa
Towers in South Africa
Buildings and structures in Mpumalanga
Economy of Mpumalanga
Emalahleni Local Municipality, Mpumalanga