“We commend the various teams for diligently working round the clock to ensure that work on the damaged silo was completed seamlessly and within the set timeframes. The completion of the project will go a long way in ensuring a reliable electricity supply to enable economic growth, says Eskom’s group executive for group capital, Abram Masango.
The construction project included including rebuilding silo 20 and reinforcing silos 10 and 30, lift shaft, two piers and the coal conveyor system.
“On 1 November 2014, an incident occurred at Majuba where the wall of coal silo 20 collapsed. Due to the structural failure of the coal silo and the associated conveying infrastructure, no coal supply to any of the station’s three silos was possible.
“To enable coal supply to the station, an immediate solution was executed within five days after the collapse of the silo. This entailed installing mobile feeders on silos 10 and 30 boiler inclines to make it possible to supply coal to the units. The solution ensured that at least four out of the six boiler incline conveyors could supply coal to the units,” a statement from Eskom says.
An interim solution was put in place from 1 March 2015, which involved constructing a conveyor system that bypassed the coal silos and provided a reliable coal supply to all six units.
“Construction work for the permanent coal-handling solution commenced at the beginning of February 2016 and was concluded by end-December 2016. The scope for the permanent coal handling solution included the rebuilding of Silo 20, the reinforcement of Silos 10 and 30, lift shaft, two piers and the coal conveyor system,” Eskom says.
