The delivered unit is a supercritical-pressure boiler for the coal-fired power plant which is being built at a cost of ZAR118.5bn ($9.23bn) in Witbank, Mpumalanga Province.
Already put into operations, the boiler for the Kusile thermal plant is part of a supply contract won by the Japanese firm in 2007.
Overall, it is the third unit from MHPS for Eskom's Medupi and Kusile thermal power generation projects which put together have an output of 9.6GW.
MHPS stated: “Eskom had previously announced that commercial operations at Kusile Power Station Unit 1 would launch by July 2018.
“However, thanks to the efforts of MHPS to shorten the construction period, commercial operation was achieved 11 months ahead of schedule.”
The two other units delivered by MHPS are in operation at the Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Limpopo Province since August 2015 and April 2017.
Like the Medupi power plant, the Kusile coal-fired power plant also features a total of six units with each of them having a capacity of 800MW.
According to MHPS, by adopting supercritical-pressure technologies, thermal power plants can generate more efficient power than conventional coal-fired systems. This, it says helps in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in a significant way.
The Kusile thermal power plant, which is expected to have an operational life of 60 years, will become the first South African power station to install flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) for the elimination of oxides of sulphur. It is estimated to use up to 5,300km of cabling.
Image: Kusile Power Station Unit 1 in Witbank. Photo: courtesy of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, LTD.
