Article by: Dumisane Dube
Eskom confirmed that a generation unit caught alight on Sunday night and affected another unit. All employees who were on duty were accounted for, while several employees were treated for shock.
Several Eskom employees have been suspended following a blast at Eskom’s Medupi power plant.
The government entity said that there was a deviation from procedure at one of its units, which led to the explosion on Sunday night.
“Following the power station’s preliminary investigation, it appears that while performing this activity air was introduced into the generator at a point where hydrogen was still present in the generator at sufficient quantities to create an explosive mixture, which ignited and resulted in the explosion,” the utility said.
According to the utility it has undertaken to place those employees who were responsible to manage and execute this work under precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of the major event investigation.
Energy expert Chris Yelland said Medupi was nowhere close to being fully operational, despite an announcement last week that its 14-year construction had been completed.
Eskom assured South Africans that an explosion at the newly completed Medupi power station would not result in load shedding.
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