VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSA #0618/01 0441324
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131324Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1537
INFO RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0179
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS PRETORIA 000618 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S, NP/RA/CMARTIN AND WHAMMACK 
ENERGY FOR NE-2.4, AND 
NNSA/NA-243/MMANNING, NA-241, NA-21/ABIENIAWSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG TRGY SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: KOEBERG POWER PLANT EXPERIENCING 
PROBLEMS 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Eskom is racing against the clock to repair 
the generator connected to one of two nuclear reactors at its 
Koeberg power plant located north of Cape Town.  Eskom shut 
down the Koeberg 1 reactor following damage to its dedicated 
generator reportedly caused when a maintenance team 
inadvertently left a three-inch bolt inside.  The problem is 
that spare parts are not kept in inventory, and used ones are 
difficult to find.  Eskom has its fingers crossed that 
Koeberg 2 stays in operation long enough for the damaged 
generator to be repaired.  Koeberg 2 is scheduled for 
refueling in March, but this perhaps can be stretched to 
April or the beginning of May.  In the meantime, any major 
power surge on the 900-mile transmission lines from 
Mpumalanga could trip Koeberg 2 and blackout the Cape.  The 
incident, which occurred on Christmas Day, followed a spate 
of power interruptions in the Cape during the month of 
November.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Eskom is racing against the clock to repair the 
generator connected to one of two nuclear reactors at its 
Koeberg power plant located north of Cape Town.  Koeberg 
reactors 1 and 2 are responsible for supplying the Cape with 
1800 MW of power, and are crucial to stabilizing additional 
power transmitted over 900 miles of high voltage transmission 
lines from coal-fired stations in Mpumalaga Province, east of 
Johannesburg.  The loss of Koeberg 1 means that the stability 
of these long distance lines rests primarily with Koeberg 2. 
If Koeberg 2 were to shut down, Cape Town would experience 
chronic blackouts. 
 
¶3. (U) When one of the Koeberg reactors shuts down, Eskom 
normally switches on the 60 MW Acacia gas turbine in the 
Western Cape and the Port Rex gas turbine in the Eastern 
Cape.  In this case, Eskom has also activated its pumped 
storage power station at Palmiet and its hydroelectric 
station at Van der Kloof.  But these plants together do not 
generate nearly enough base power to run the Cape.  As a 
consequence, Eskom has taken urgent steps to put the 
mothballed Athlone and Steenberg power stations back into 
operation.  Prior to this incident, Eskom had already 
tendered for the construction of two combined cycle 
generation plants in Atlantis and Mossel Bay, to be completed 
by the end of 2007.  In addition, Eskom was in the middle of 
a $200 million project to upgrade its high voltage 
transmission lines from Mpumalanga. 
 
¶4. (U) The immediate problem for Koeberg 1 is that spare 
parts needed for the French built generator (Alstom) are not 
kept in inventory, and used ones are difficult to find.  To 
order and import a new generator would take a year.  Given 
these options, Eskom had little choice but to truck the 
massive generator parts to Rotek Engineering, its subsidiary 
in Johannesburg, for repair.  Ideally, Rotek should complete 
the task before Koeberg 2 shuts down for refueling in March. 
Howver, refueling could be stretched until the end of April 
or the beginning of May, if sanctioned by the National 
Nuclear Regulator.  In the meantime, Eskom must keep its 
fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong.  Any major 
power surge on the Mpumalanga transmission lines could cause 
Koeberg 2 to trip, leading to a blackout for most of the Cape. 
 
¶5. (U) The problem with the generator for Koeberg 1 is not an 
isolated incident.  It follows a spate of power interruptions 
in the Cape during the month of November.  On November 11, a 
black out was caused by a mechanical failure in the 
transmission lines in Koeberg's switching gear.  On November 
16, a fire under transmission lines caused a power cut that 
led to a controlled shut down at Koeberg.  On November 23, 
Koeberg instigated another controlled shutdown (this time 
without power interruption) after routine checks found that 
the chemical concentration in its safety injection system was 
below specification.  Throughout, the situation was 
complicated by the fact that Koeberg 1 was already down for 
refueling -- in winter when the voltage from Mpumalanga is 
low.  When Koeberg 1 was brought back on-line on December 25, 
its generator soon faulted, thus tripping another controlled 
shutdown. 
 
¶6. (U) The culprit appears to have been a member of the 
maintenance team who reportedly has assumed responsibility 
for inadvertently leaving a three-inch bolt inside the 
generator for Koeberg 1.  When the generator was activated, 
the bolt ripped through both the rotor and the stator, a 
sophisticated series of thick electric cables.  The bolt 
damaged the insulation surrounding the generator bars of the 
stator, causing an electrical fault and forcing the 
controlled shutdown of Koeberg 1. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Cape Town was already feeling a power pinch when all 
of these outages happened.  City Council Public Lighting 
Manager Charles Kadalie had warned that controlled power 
interruptions could plague the city during the next three to 
nine months, in line with the project to upgrade the 
transmission lines.  He wanted to shut off streetlights that 
burned during the day to prevent cable theft, but first he 
would have to bury the cables in cement.  He also wanted to 
turn off the nightly illumination of Table Mountain and 
advised Cape residents to conserve electricity. 
 
¶8. (U) The power interruptions and controlled shutdowns in 
November have attracted the attention of the National Energy 
Regulator (NER), which has asked Eskom to investigate the 
underlying causes.  NER had also commissioned the first 
independent technical audit of Eskom's transmission business. 
 Some have speculated that the 20-year old power plant at 
Koeberg may need an overhaul.  Others have speculated that 
the loss of experienced staff, including Koeberg's 
long-serving Power Station Manager, may be the source of 
future problems at Koeberg. 
TEITELBAUM