Lethabo Power Station
Location of Lethabo Power Station within South Africa
Country
  • South Africa
LocationMetsimaholo, Free State, South Africa[1]
Coordinates26°44′31″S 27°58′39″E / 26.74194°S 27.97750°E / -26.74194; 27.97750
StatusOperational
Commission date1985
Owner(s)Eskom
Operator(s)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Turbine technology
Power generation
Units operational6[2]
Units planned6 × 618 MW
Nameplate capacity3,708 Megawatt[2]
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

Lethabo Power Station in the Free State, South Africa, is a large coal fired power station owned and operated by Eskom.

Power generation

The station is located between Vereeniging and Sasolburg in the Free State and consists of six 618MW units for a total installed capacity of 3,708MW. Total efficiency at Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 37.80%

Lethabo burns coal with a calorific value of 15 - 16 MJ/kg and an ash content of 42%. It is the only power station in the world running on such low grade coal.

The Lethabo power station has approximately 1100 employees.

Technical details

  • Six 618MW units
  • Installed capacity: 3 708MW
  • 2001 capacity: 3558MW
  • Design efficiency at rated turbine MCR (%): 37.80%
  • Ramp rate: 33.33% per hour
  • Average availability over last 3 years: 93.05%
  • Average production over last 3 years: 21 572GWh

History

Construction of Lethabo started in 1980 and by December 1990, the station was fully operational. The station has been built on 11 000 concrete piles which were sunk 25 metres deep. The reason being to alleviate the heaving clay problem after some 190 000 bluegum trees were removed during site clearing. At the time, it was the largest piling contract ever awarded to a South African contractor.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lethabo Power Station - South Africa". Archived from the original on 4 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Lethabo Power Station". Eskom. Archived from the original on 13 July 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2010.

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