Camden 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 ...

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 prompted

to recommission the station, starting with unit 6 in July 2005 and completing with unit 1 in July 2008.

Power generation

Power is generated by eight 200 MW units with a total installed capacity on 1,600 MW. Coal energy to electrical energy conversion efficiency is 33.40% In the Integrated results for 2015, nominal capacity is listed as 1,481 MW with gross capacity of 1,561 MW (3 x 200 MW; 1 x 196 MW; 2 x 195 MW; 1 x 190 MW; 1 x 185 MW). The four chimneys of Camden Power Station are 152.4 metres (500 ft) tall.

Power distribution

In addition to feeding the South African grid, Camden, along with Arnot Power Station, 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.

Crime

In November 2022, Eskom reported multiple arrests at Camden Power Station, which were linked to sabotage, coal theft and coal fraud. A contractor, intending to land additional maintenance and repair jobs, intentionally drained oil from an oil burner bearing which caused the burners to trip repeatedly. Truck drivers were also arrested for their possession of substandard (coal mixed with worthless material) or stolen coal which was to be delivered to Eskom. Mid-December 2022, at the request of the Minister of Public Enterprises,

Pravin Gordhan Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (born 12 April 1949) is a politician and anti-apartheid activist who has held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014 and again from 2015 until 2017 ...

, and President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

, Minister of Defence

Thandi Modise Thandi Modise (born 25 December 1959) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. She was previously the Premier of the North West from 2010 to 2014, Chairperson of the National Cou ...

deployed a small contingent of

SANDF The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Ministe ...

troops at the station (besides Majuba, Grootvlei and Tutuka) due to a growing threat of sabotage, theft, vandalism and corruption.

External links

Camden Power Station
on the

-Website

References