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Cape Town - Eskom has been aware of structural problems of the silo which collapsed at its Majuba Power Station on Sunday since January, said trade union Solidarity.
Solidarity blamed Eskom for not having addressed the issue, accusing the company of negligence.
Solidarity said in a statement that it learnt that Eskom workers had been monitoring resonances at the silo since January. It had been reported to the company at that stage that, based on the increase in vibration, the silo was showing signs of deterioration.
READ: SA heading for serious trouble – energy expert
According to Deon Reyneke, Solidarity’s head of the energy industry, it was found in June this year, and again three weeks prior to the collapse, that the silo’s vibration had worsened.
“Vibration of a concrete structure is extremely problematic,” he said. “The vibration caused or worsened weaknesses in the silo and as the vibration increased, it eventually led to the collapse.”
READ: Eskom blackout catches SA offguard
Reyneke is also of the opinion that the temporary measures, which are now being implemented, jeopardise safety at the power station.
“Through its negligence, Eskom is placing its employees at risk,” he said. “To fully supply all six units at the power station, hundreds of trucks per hour have to offload coal at temporary conveyors close to the furnaces.”
“Apart from the risk of truck accidents and higher operating costs, it also holds a fire hazard,” said Reyneke.
The coal silo that collapsed at Eskom's Majuba power station in Mpumalanga on Sunday. (Photo: Denzil Maregele/Beeld)
Meanwhile, Eskom said there should be no load shedding on Tuesday as additional units had returned from maintenance.
“The risk of load shedding has reduced significantly and the prognosis for the week is better than expected,” Eskom said in a statement.
READ: Prepare for outages the whole week - expert
“The system will be under extreme pressure on Wednesday and Thursday as the water reserves that we built up over the weekend for our peaking plants will be depleted.”
It said the Majuba Power Station progressed better than anticipated. “Teams have worked non-stop since the incident on Saturday and have been able to connect coal feeder units, which have enabled us to ramp up the supply from 600MW to 1 200 MW.”
Reduce electricity usage
Eskom appealed to consumers to reduce their electricity usage throughout the day, but especially from 18:00 to 22:00.
Customers are urged to switch off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances to prevent the need for rotational load shedding.
Eskom’s load shedding schedules are available for Eskom’s direct customers here or phone the call centre at 0860 037 566 for additional information.
Load shedding schedules will only be utilised for the duration of the constraint and Eskom will provide regular updates on the status of the power system.
READ: Eskom CEO apologises for outages
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