Eskom Grootvlei Power Station suffers fire

Eskom’s Grootvlei Power Station Unit 2 has reportedly suffered a fire over the weekend on Saturday the 22^nd of July 2023.

According to Eskom, the fire was contained and extinguished within an hour, with no injuries sustained.

When the unit went on fire, it was online and generating 175MW of electricity. It was manually shut down following the fire due to a leaking fuel oil supply/return pipeline.

Eskom also revealed that the fire was only confined to the feedwater regulating station and the front-firing floor as the Eskom team managed to isolate the sources of fuel, preventing catastrophic damage to the unit.

The utility mentioned that there was investigation was launched to establish the cause of the leak as well as the nature and extent of the damage caused. It also said that the return to service of the unit will be determined in due course.

“Eskom will work around the clock to ensure that the unit is returned to service as soon as possible.” – the utility added.

Energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa visited the power station on Sunday to assess the damage.