Medupi and Kusile, currently under construction, are dry-cooled coal-fired power plants. Each will have an output of almost 4800MW, powered by six 790MW Alstom turbines and generators, and together will provide an increase in South Africa’s energy capacity. Eskom has launched an infrastructure investment programme to double the country’s electricity sector in the decade to come.
Under the terms and conditions of the contract, Alstom will engineer, supply and install its latest distributed control system (DCS), the ALSPA Series 6, and all related instrumentation. Alstom’s ALSPA Series 6 system is an open IT platform. The control system is expected to ensure safe monitoring and control of the plant’s critical equipment, while easing Medupi’s integration into Eskom’s existing fleet of power plants.
Philippe Joubert, president of Alstom Power, said: “The award of this contract confirms Eskom’s confidence in Alstom and recognises the quality and performance of Alstom’s automation offering.
“The ALSPA Series 6 Distributed Control System (DCS) is the first major product resulting from our collaboration with Microsoft to address the new ‘smart grid’ challenges. Alstom’s energy management solutions help energy producers to optimise their assets in this new energy environment.”
