Koeberg Unit 1 granted licence extension to operate until 2044

Eskom has announced that the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has granted the power utility a licence to continue operating Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 for another 20 years, until 21 July 2044.

The licence application was submitted by Eskom to the NNR last year.

Unit 1 provides 930MW to the grid. It joins 120 reactors worldwide that have safely continued operations beyond their initial 40-year life.

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“Together with our business partners, we are proud of the achievement that ensures Africa’s first and only nuclear power plant can now continue to operate safely into the future,” said Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom Group Executive for Generation.

“The granting of the licence is a testament to the hard work and continued commitment of our teams to nuclear safety and Eskom’s generation recovery plan,” added Keith Featherstone, Eskom Chief Nuclear Officer.

“Over the years, Koeberg has identified and implemented safety improvements through both French and US nuclear experiences, which have reduced the risk to levels that would normally only be achieved by new, modern nuclear power plants.”

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As the Koeberg licence will be amended to reflect Unit 1’s end date of 21 July 2044, Eskom will continue operating the unit until January 2025. It will then be shut down for its next scheduled refuelling and maintenance.

The last time the unit was shut down was on 10 December 2022.

Eskom then synchronised Koeberg’s Unit 1 with the grid in November last year.

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This was the longest outage in the station’s history, during which three original steam generators were replaced with new ones.

Koeberg unit 2

Koeberg Unit 2’s current licence will expire on 9 November 2025.

According to Eskom, Koeberg Power Station is implementing some prerequisites for long-term operation during the current outage.

Once this outage is complete, Unit 2 will be returned to service. While the scope of Unit 2’s outage is similar to that of Unit 1, Eskom expects the duration of the shutdown to be reduced.

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The NNR will announce the decision on long-term operation for Unit 2 before the licence expires.

Koeberg, South Africa’s only nuclear power station, has a total capacity of 1860 MW. It contributes approximately 5% of the electricity generated by Eskom.

The two reactors, Unit 1 and Unit 2, at Koeberg Nuclear Power Station are the largest generating units in Africa.