Komati Power Station

Komati Power Station, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom. Its 300 metre tall chimney was built in 1979, and is one of the tallest structures in the country. Komati is one of power stations with a common steam range, meaning that its nine boilers jointly feed the nine generators. Other stations are Tutuka Power Station and Matimba Power Station.HistoryThe first unit was commissioned in 1961 and the last in 1966. In 1988, three units at Komati were mothballed, one was kept in reserve and the other five were only operated during peak hours. In 1990 the complete station was mothballed until 2008 when the unit 9 was the first to be recommisioned under Eskom's return to service project. The full station is expected to be online by 2011.Power generationThe station consists of a total of 9 units having five 100MW units on the East and four 125MW units on the West with a total installed capacity of 1,000MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 30.00%