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Kendal Power Station sees energy up, emissions reduced, but still off target

Kendal Power Station sees energy up, emissions reduced, but still off target
The ash dump near Kendal Power Station, Mpumalanga. (Photo: Julia Evans)
Julia Evans
By Julia Evans
26 Aug 2024
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Kendal general manager Tshepiso Temo has boosted the power station’s energy availability factor and is focused on reducing harmful emissions, but there’s a long way to go before the plant complies with emissions targets to be introduced next year.

‘Every morning when I drive through the gate, I take a picture of the smokestack and I send it through to my team and say, this is what we’re sending to the community,” said Tshepiso Temo, joking that her team always thinks she’s a bit crazy.

Temo is the new general manager of Kendal Power Station in Mpumalanga and arrived in March 2024 when the energy availability factor (EAF) was at 39% and three of the six units were offline for maintenance or repairs.

When Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa visited last Tuesday, all six lights were on and the EAF was at 82%.

kendal power station ramakgopa Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (centre) arrives to a warm greeting from Eskom Kendal Power Station employees in Mpumalanga. (Photo: Julia Evans)



kendal power station smokestacks All six units at Kendal Power Station are running. The smokestacks are emitting less ash after recent refurbishments. (Photo: Julia Evans)



Ramokgopa made the trip to Kendal to commend workers for making significant improvements on their EAF and reducing harmful emissions.

“The three power stations that have shown us remarkable improvement are Tutuka, Kriel, Kendal, and of course, Kendal is on top,” said the minister, noting that Kendal has seen the biggest reduction in unplanned capacity losses. 

kendal power station energy availability factor General manager of Kendal Power Station, Tshepiso Temo (right), announces that the plant has reached an 81% energy availability factor during a meeting with Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa (left). (Photo: Julia Evans)



Ramokgopa noted that what was unique is that “Two of the three power station managers, they just happen to be women.”

Temo was brought to Kendal after having turned Grootvlei Power Station around, and despite travelling from the East Rand to Mpumalanga and back every day, and raising four children, she still has the energy to think about the impact her new station is having on surrounding communities. 

Read more: ‘It may not be seen like that, but I am making a difference’ — Eskom general manager for Grootvlei power station

Temo explained to Daily Maverick that taking a picture of the smokestack every day, “helps us to put it in context to say, ‘What is it that we’re doing?’”

The smokestack is where harmful emissions, like ash, come from, and Temo and her team are working to lower these every day.

Emissions


Historically, Kendal, a coal-fired power station, has had trouble with fine particulate matter emissions.

There are three important emissions to take note of when it comes to affecting health – sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and fine particulate matter.

PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, refers to tiny airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres. Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) previously explained to Daily Maverick that this measurement matters – “They’re small enough to pass from lungs to the bloodstream and wreak havoc on all our internal organs.”

By law, power stations are not meant to emit more than 100mg/Nm3 of particulate matter, but by 31 March 2025, Kendal is required to comply with the new limit of 50mg/Nm3.

While Kendal is still exceeding this threshold, there have been improvements in recent months. 

 

Temo, who has experience with maintenance from Grootvlei, said that there were maintenance and refurbishment programmes in place for Kendal, but that some were long overdue.

According to an Independent Assessment of Eskom’s Operational Situation by VGBE Energy from August 2023, Kendal’s ash plant had not been performing well since 2017 and was getting worse.

The assessment said that the performance of the electrostatic precipitator, or ESP, a large machine that the ash clings to before it shakes it down for collection – must improve, as it emits more than 100mg/Nm3 of fine particulate matter. 

Now, Eskom is completing repairs on the ESPs of all units at Kendal.

Eksom is also improving ash removal from the station to the ash dump and repairing dust suppression systems on the ash dump.

kendal power station ash dump The ash dump near Kendal Power Station, Mpumalanga. (Photo: Julia Evans)



Temo explained that if the conveyors in the dust-handling plant were not working, you ended up with an accumulation of ash within the unit, meaning the only way out was through the smokestack, and that was when you had issues with high emissions.

They have also established task teams to deal with the issue, one internally for units at Kendal, and a team for where the ash is removed, 5km away. 

On Daily Maverick’s visit, five of six units were emitting between 20 and 50mg/Nm3 of particulate matter, below the new standard.

Sulphur dioxide


Myllyvirta explained that sulphur dioxide (SO2) was responsible for the vast majority of the health impacts from the power plants, which was a concern because, according to a data analysis by the CREA, Eskom emitted more sulphur dioxide than any single power company in the world.

Temo was less concerned about Kendal’s sulphur dioxide emissions, as the plant is emitting below the minimum emission standard of 3,500mg/Nm3 for SO2.

 

A new minimum emission standard of 1,000mg/Nm3 for SO2 was meant to be implemented in 2020, but in 2021, most power stations were granted postponements and suspensions by the National Air Quality Officer.

Robyn Hugo, director of climate change engagement at shareholder activist organisation Just Share previously told Daily Maverick, “The minimum emission standards (MES), which Sasol and Eskom argue are so onerous, are in fact hopelessly weak and inadequate. The SO2 MES are some 28 times weaker than China’s, and 10 times weaker than India’s.”

 

​​These newer standards are meant to come into play from April 2025, so Kendal will need to reduce its SO2.

When asked how they’ll do this, Temo acknowledged, “There are a couple of contributory factors that affect your sulphur content. It starts with the coal.”

Energy analyst Chris Yelland said that a big reason that SA had such high SO2 emissions was because, unlike other countries, “We mine low-quality coal that has a high sulphur content because it’s cheaper.”

Temo said, “In terms of stopping it from the source, we are talking to the coal mine in terms of making sure they give us sulphur that is within spec.”

Kendal gets its coal from the underground mine at Seriti’s Khutala Colliery, situated in the Witbank coalfield.

To further reduce SO2 emissions, Eskom could install flue gas desulphurisation technology, which is currently installed only at Kusile Power Plant. However, installing flue gas desulphurisation across Eskom’s remaining coal plants could cost up to R40-billion per station.

Read more: Eskom greenwash on coal-fired Kusile a smokescreen for terrifying overall emissions

“But that is really in the long, long, long term [plan] and it’s really going to take a lot of money,” said Temo.

Eskom said that at Kendal they were also installing high-frequency power supplies on all units and upgrading the sulphur tanks and common pipeline to improve gas conditioning.

Jesse Burton from the Energy Systems Research Group at UCT, who provides analysis and policy advice on coal transitions in South Africa, told Daily Maverick, “It is a positive sign that Eskom is addressing air pollution issues as part of its maintenance programmes, and to hear they are improving Kendal’s performance, as it has been one of the worst performers. And I applaud the Eskom staff who are tackling these challenges in a context of indebtedness and tariff issues. 

“However, Eskom and the government need to address the much bigger question of air pollution compliance across the entire fleet and especially for SO2, as current plans will not meet the standards.”

She added, “Air pollution control might seem like a ‘nice to have’, but pollution has very real impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods, including sickness, premature deaths and work days lost.”

‘The jobs will be protected’


At a Q&A with Kendal staff, Minister Ramokgopa addressed one of the most pressing issues surrounding Eskom’s Just Energy Transition: job security. 

“We know we could have done things better when we decommissioned Komati,” said Ramokgopa, speaking of the first coal-fired power station in SA to be shut in Eskom’s Just Energy Transition programme. “… We’re going to take those lessons and ensure that we don’t repeat them.”

Kendal Power Station, which has been in operation since 1993, is slated for decommissioning in 2035. However, Ramokgopa hinted that this timeline might be extended, saying, “What we’ve come to know from old power stations is that there’s no relation between age and performance.”

“Coming from Grootvlei, I can testify to that if you take care of your machines they can run longer,” said Temo, who was the general manager of one of the oldest coal plants in the country.

Ramokgopa told Daily Maverick after the staff address on the decommissioning schedule of Kendal that Eskom was still working on models to determine the best route.

Ramokgopa said he’d spoken to ministers in China, India and Russia, and an auditor from the US, who said South Africa had young power stations.

“The Indians will tell you we’ve got power stations that are 80 years old, but the EAF is upwards of 90%. And then the emissions are low, lower than [ours],” said Ramokgopa, adding that his department was working on technology to reduce the emissions.

“There is technology that can help us to reduce the emissions, and then we sustain the life of Kendall beyond all of us – your kids, grandchildren can come and work here,” he said.

“We’re not going to decimate the economy of this town.”

Ramokgopa said that the other thing his department was considering was gas to power, adding that his department would soon host his Mozambican counterpart to discuss gas from Mozambique, so that, “Instead of using coal, we use gas.”

Emphasising job security, Ramakgopa said, “That much I want to tell you, the jobs will be protected.” DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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