Matla Power Station in
Mpumalanga,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, 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 ...
and consuming the output from the
Matla coal mine.
History
Construction started in 1974, and the last unit was commissioned in July 1983. In 1981 the southernmost smokestack measuring in height was demolished after it partially collapsed during construction, killing 4 workers. It held the world record for the tallest free standing structure to be explosively demolished
for 24 years until the 2006 demolition of the
Westerholt Power Station[ ] chimney.
The actual explosion was also used in a gag in Jamie Uys' Funny People 2, where an electrician is instructed to do some wiring, and is warned that improper connection will cause the stack to explode.
See also
*
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 ...
*
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 unio ...
External links
Matla 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
References
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Coal-fired power stations in South Africa
Towers in South Africa
Chimneys in South Africa
Buildings and structures in Mpumalanga
Economy of Mpumalanga