Medupi Power Station
The initial investment decision for this base-load power station was made in 2005.
Formerly known as Project Alpha and Charlie, this power station has been named Medupi. Medupi means “rain that soaks parched lands, giving economic relief”.
The Medupi Power Station units are scheduled to be commissioned at nine-monthly intervals, in line with international practice. However, power plants have been constructed and commissioned in shorter periods. The first unit is scheduled to be commissioned in 2012, with the last unit scheduled for commissioning by 2015.
This project will include super critical plant, which is able to operate at higher temperatures and pressures than previous generation boilers, and importantly operate with greater efficiency. The supercritical design is a first for Eskom, and with the higher efficiency will result in better use of natural resources, for example, water and coal, and will have improved environmental performance. Medupi will be the biggest dry-cooled power station in the world.
The boiler and turbine contracts for Medupi were the largest contracts that Eskom has ever signed in its 86-year history.
The planned operational life of the station is 50 years. The site was formerly the farm Naauw Ontkomen and was bought from Kumba Coal (Pty) Ltd - now known as Exxaro Coal (Pty) Ltd. The site measures 883 hectares and was previously used for game and cattle grazing.
The construction of Medupi Power Station will have a major impact on the lives and the economy of the small community in Lephalale as homes and a social infrastructure is planned to be developed to serve the thousand of contractors working on site in this small yet special community.
Medupi power station - environmental facts
An environmental management plan is key to every new build project that Eskom tackles. In fact, before any major project can be implemented, Eskom asks an independent consultancy to perform an environmental impact assessment, which involves both the social, historical and natural impact of the project.
The new Medupi coal-fired power station near Lephalale in Limpopo Province is no exception. The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism approved the project from an environmental perspective and construction started in May 2007.
During the clearing of the site - some 840 hectares - many environmental factors were highlighted. A visual beacon on the site is a baobab tree which is believed to be a few hundred years old. The team immediately made plans to preserve this beautiful tree. A lengthy process was put in place to relocate it and plant it where the entrance to the power station would ultimately be. It was pruned before moving, including a 10-day preparation for transplanting. The aim was to keep the tree as a 3-stem unit for aesthetic purposes. This involved cranes and a truck being employed to move the tree and replant it, under the guidance of a tree expert.
Apart from this baobab, many nationally and provincially protected trees were either replanted or transported to a special nursery at the adjacent Matimba power station. This included species such as camel thorns, shepherds trees, leadwoods, tamboti and marulas.
Not only trees are being cared for but some game as well. Some 30 to 40 animals have been relocated to an Eskom game reserve close by. This includes impala, two nyala, a gemsbok, eland and kudu. There is also a programme to catch and relocate all snakes found on site by a local professional snake catcher, including educational talks with caught snakes to workers. So far 17 snakes have been caught and relocated, including other reptiles, birds, etc. Snake species include puff adders, Egyptian cobras, boomslang and Mozambican spitting cobras.
The clearing of such a huge area involves massive amounts of vegetation and topsoil. This was preserved to be used for rehabilitation of the existing Matimba power station ash dump and possibly some of the Grootegeluk Mine spoil dumps.
Environmental education also forms an integral part of the project. Local people are constantly given information about the environmental impacts and fauna and flora on site as they work. The Medupi EMC (local Environmental Monitoring Committee) has been involved in monitoring the project and continues to do so.
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