Cape Town – Another Eskom power plant has caught fire, forcing the power utility to shut down some of the affected units.
Eskom confirmed on Saturday that unit 1 at Kendal station in Mpumalanga tripped, and when an investigation was conducted it was found that it had caught fire.
However, investigations were under way to determine the cause of the fire.
This is the second Eskom power plant that has been affected by a fire, after there was an explosion at Medupi a few weeks ago.
The damage to that unit was still being investigated and it is believed it would take some time before the unit is repaired.
Eskom said unit 1 tripped at Kendal power station this morning after the generator transformer failed.
“Upon initial investigation, it was determined that the generator transformer had caught fire. The fire damaged the cables to the main cooling water system on the west side of the power station. Unit 2 and 3 experienced loss of vacuum and were shut down under controlled conditions,” said Eskom in a statement.
When an explosion happened at Medupi’s unit 4 it was estimated that this would cost billions of rands to repair.
Deputy President David Mabuza said recently that the investigation was under way on the explosion, and once concluded, they would report back to the public.
Medupi is one of the coal-fired power stations that has not yet been completed after years under construction and delays.