Arnot Power Station in
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, is a
coal-fired power plant
A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a th ...
operated by
Eskom
Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...
. Coal from the
Arnot coal mine directly feeds the station.
History
Construction of Arnot started in 1968, this generation unit went on line in 1971 and the station was fully operational by 1975.
Between 1992 and 1997 three of its units were mothballed due to Eskom's surplus generating capacity, but they were brought back online in January 1997, November 1997 and December 1998 respectively.
The cooling towers were constructed using a unique convex slip-form process by the contractor
Concor
Concor Holdings (Proprietary) Limited. is a South African construction and mining services company. It is active throughout Southern Africa, involved in mining, civil engineering, building and road projects. Concor returned as an independent br ...
.
Power generation
Power generation was originally by six 350 MW units with a total installed capacity of 2,100 MW.
Turbine
Maximum Continuous Rating
In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, the power rating of equipment is the highest power input allowed to flow through particular equipment. According to the particular discipline, the term ''power'' may refer to electrical or m ...
is 35.60%
Unit ratings now given as 1 x 370 MW; 1 x 390 MW; 2 x 396 MW; 2 x 400 MW for a total of 2,352 MW installed capacity and 2,232 MW nominal capacity.
Power distribution
In addition to feeding the South African grid, Arnot, along with
Camden Power Station
Camden Power Station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom.
History
Camden was commissioned in 1967. Between 1990 and 2006 the station was mothballed, but South Africa's energy crisis in the early 21st century ...
, also feeds the
Mozal Aluminium smelter in
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
via 400 kV transmission lines.
Mozal consumes around 950 MW.
Safety
Arnot has twice been awarded NOSCAR status by the
National Occupational Safety Association.
See also
*
Fossil-fuel power plant
A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel, such as coal or natural gas, to produce electricity. Fossil fuel power stations have machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, wh ...
*
List of power stations in South Africa
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
Arnot Power Stationon the
Eskom
Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...
-Website
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Coal-fired power stations in South Africa
Buildings and structures in Mpumalanga
Economy of Mpumalanga