ESKOM has celebrated another success, announcing that unit 1 of the Kusile power plant has returned to service.
The struggling power utility said that the unit has returned to service a month and a half ahead of the original schedule, bringing an additional 800 MW to the grid.
The return of the unit comes just after Kusile unit 3 was returned to service on Saturday, 30 September. Eskom spokeswoman Daphne Mokoena said the unit has consistently delivered 800 MW.
The news comes at a time when the country has experienced the lower levels of load shedding in recent weeks.
Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, minister in the Presidency for Electricity, welcomed the development of Eskom.
He said the return of the unit, which together with units 2 and 3 had been out of service since August 2022 due to safety concerns about the structural integrity of the stack, is two months ahead of schedule and will bring 800 MW into the grid.
"This marks significant overall improvements to generation performance with Kusile unit 3, which came back online on 29 September 2023, also returning back to service two months ahead of schedule. The third of the units, unit 2 is now expected to similarly return to service in November 2023, while unit 5 will come into commercial operation in December 2023," he said.
Ramokgopa said the return of the Kusile units was a critical milestone in their quest to recover Mzansi's economy, secure jobs, promote universal access and improve the quality of life.
He also applauded the Eskom generation team for what he called a great job in restoring stability and credibility to the Eskom generation fleet and reducing the intensity and severity of load shedding.
